Gypsy Romance
by sandrilenefatoren2
Summary: If you've seen Puuchi Puri Yuushi... this story is about Gaga. I just felt sooooo sorry for him, I had to go allout to make his life better. And I will no longer appologize for this story. I LOVE THE IDEA AND HOW ITS GOING!
1. Chapter 1

Style of Show: Anime

Show Name: Puchi Puri Yuushi

Type of Fanfic: Romance

Focus Characters:

Gaga – Grenda's steward, a seven-foot-tall black-bodied cat-like demon with long, silver hair. He has occasional accidents when his hip goes out and can make long-winded lectures that can put anyone listening to sleep, much to his annoyance. Always loyal without question, Gaga takes great pride in being a steward, and has served for over 1000 years. He can also transform into a black, red-eyed cat with bat-like wings.

Nikolai Nomasdina – Master swordsman, gypsy caravan boss, and old friend of Gaga, he is possessed of the Sight, the magical ability to see the absolute truth in what he looks at. He despises those who don't respect others, but he refuses to let his bias interfere with the caravan's well-being. He is approximately 58.

Onua Nomasdina – Niko's daughter, she is a peerless singer, dancer, and acrobat. Although she is extremely beautiful, she hates idle flattery and false praise. She admires sincerity, honesty, and restraint above all else. She is 25.

Semi-main Characters:

Grenda – Princess of Hell "with radiant beauty and fantastic magical powers" She can be a bit of a braggart, and she's quick-tempered, but she can be sweet. She tries to hide this when she can.

Yuushi – Platinum Princess and princess of the Human World, she's a cheerful, hardworking girl who is also Grenda's friend.

Kokoru – Princess of the Ghostly Realm, she is a soft-spoken girl, who is so gentle that she is often ignored and talked-over by the much louder Yuushi and Grenda.

Beth – Fairy Princess, she is independent and strong. Her closest friend is Kokoru, but she is friend to all of the other girls.

Erumina - As the Princess of Heaven, she is an angel who wears white robes and has wings. She is very studious and fastidious, and a bit of a humorless goody-two-shoes. She has befriended the other girls.

Niobe Nomasdina – Niko's wife, she was once considered the most beautiful woman in the world. She's now a comfortably-padded middle-aged woman, with a kind heart and understanding nature. She's a wonderful cook and seamstress, and a decent singer and dancer. Approximately 56.

Supporting Characters:

Cube – Yuushi's young demon servant, he can summon magical objects from the demon plane.

Chow – Kokoru's servant, a small ghost.

Berubel – Beth's servant, a tiny pixie.

Barizan – Erumina's servant, a large robot.

Gunberd – Yuushi's adoptive father.

Erlsel – The Queen, and principal of the Princess academy.

Arc – The Prince, and Yuushi's beau, Gunberd is his true father, though only he, Gunberd, and the Queen know that.

-Gypsy Romance-

(Main Courtyard of the Princess academy)

The five former Platinum Princess candidates are standing near the bulletin board, looking for any remaining part-time jobs. There is only one left, near the top right-hand corner of the board. Yuushi jumps up to get it. "Hmph!" said Grenda, "If Erumina's wings hadn't gotten caught on a coatrack, we'd have been able to pick any job we wanted. Now my radiant beauty and fantastic magical powers may go to waste!"

"You could have kept going, I would have disentangled myself." Erumina replied calmly.

"It doesn't matter, the job will take up to five." interjected Beth, who was looking over Yuushi's shoulder.

"Um… but what is it?" asked Kokoru.

"A Gypsy caravan has come into town. They're looking for assistants."

(The girls are walking across the bridge, their respective servants waiting to pick them up.)

"It doesn't start until tomorrow though."

"In that case," said Erumina, "I had best be going home. Barizan."

"Yes, Princess." the large robot replied. He lifted her easily to his shoulder and walked off, his feet making loud pounding noises, as usual.

"I'll go home too" said Beth, and ran off swiftly into the trees, followed by Berubel, who cried, "Wait for me-desu!"

"I should go too…" said Kokoru softly. "Good-bye Yuushi-san, Grenda-san, see you tomorrow!"

"I'm right behind you, Kokoru-chan!" piped her little ghost servant, Chow.

Yuushi turned to Grenda, smiling. "Will you walk home with me, Grenda? Come on, it'll be fun!"

"I suppose so. Come on Gaga."

"Yes, Princess."

"You too, Cube!"

"Right, miss!" (whispering) "Though, really, walking home with Princess Grenda can be…"

"Don't speak ill of the Princess!" Gaga interrupted sharply.

"I wasn't! I was going to say it can be… interesting! Really!"

Oh, of _course_ you were! That's why you were whispering!"

"Eh-heh-heh… Anyway, miss, what job did you get this time?" Cube changed the subject.

"We're going to be assistants to the gypsy caravan that just arrived in town." Yuushi answered his query.

"Gypsies?" asked Gaga, "I haven't seen a gypsy show in a while."

"Shows? Gypsies are performers?" Asked Yuushi.

"Oh, yes. They sing, dance, perform acrobatics, and do weapons exhibitions, that sort of thing. They also sell their delicious foods and the crafts they make."

"Hmph!" Sniffed Grenda. "They can't be that good or they'd have come to Hell before."

"Actually, Princess, they have." Gaga corrected her. Hoping she wouldn't be upset about it, he added, "Though that was before your time, about fifty years ago."

"Really?" Yuushi was interested now, she didn't know much about Gaga, other than that he was Grenda's tall, old, and fiercely loyal servant. "Was that when you last saw them?"

"Yes," he said nostalgically, "They entertained at the palace…"


	2. Chapter 2

--Begin Long, Involved Flashback—

Demon Realm, 50 years ago. A caravan of gypsies is near the Royal Palace. The gypsies themselves are preparing for later performances. Scene shifts to show a young boy, about 8 years old, in a field on the other side of the Palace. He has wavy black hair and vivid green eyes.

The boy walked along, looking around seriously, studying his surroundings, which did not intimidate him in the least.

The scene shifts to show Gaga walking by, along the side of the Palace. He doesn't look any younger. (Not surprising, 50 years out of over 1000 doesn't make that much of a difference) He notices the boy, and, curious, goes over to talk with him.

"And who might you be?" he asked.

"My name is Nikolai Nomasdina." The boy looked at Gaga seriously, "You may call me Niko, since my full name is to long for most people."

Gaga smiled, amused. "Very well, Niko-kun. You may call me Gaga."

"Do you work here, Gaga-san?" Asked Niko.

Yes, I do. I've been serving Hell's Royal family loyally for 954 years. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to know." Niko said frankly.

Gaga blinked. _Okay…_ "I see, did you com with the gypsy caravan? We don't get many humans in the Demon Realm."

"Yes, but I am not yet experienced enough for our major performances. Therefore, I am exploring."

Again, Gaga smiled. Niko was a serious, forthright boy, and he seemed far more mature than his mere 8 years. "Are you always this serious Niko-kun?"

They sat down on the grass.

"No, I'm usually more playful, but I had my fortune told.'

"Oh, was it a bad fortune?'

'No, it was a very good one, but was actually a prophesy of sorts, so I wanted to consider it seriously."

"A prophesy?"

"Yes, when a gypsy turns 8, he has his marriage prophesied, which is why so few of us have marriage troubles."

"Oh, I see. So what was your prophesy?"

Niko closed his eyes, trying to recite it perfectly. "This boy will marry the most beautiful woman of her generation, who will bear him the most talented daughter of her type. The girl will befriend those who stand athwart the tangled skein, and she may marry Death or she may marry Evil."

"That's quite the prophesy, are you certain it's true?"

"Yes, I have the Sight, so I know it is."

"The Sight?" Gaga was surprised, he had never heard of this before.

"The Sight is a magical gift that only gypsies have, and even among us it's rare. Only one or two possess it every generation, and it isn't necessarily passed on from parent to child. The Sight, when used properly, allows one to see the absolute truth in what he looks at."

"The absolute truth?"

"Only when used properly. Right now I can only tell whether what someone says is true or false, and then only when I'm looking directly at them."

"I see, but then you _are_ very young. You can't expect to be perfect."

"I don't, but I do expect to be able to tell whether someone is what I think of them as or not."

"What do you mean?"

"If I were to look at someone as a blacksmith, I could see their potential in that field, as well as their current ability."

"Oh, I see. That _would_ be useful."

"Yes, and since I plan to be a swordsman, it will come in handy for predicting my opponent's next move."

"It would, wouldn't it?'

"Yes."

They were silent, considering the possibilities of such a gift. A loud whistle split the air, startling them. "It looks like the shows are starting." Said Niko with a sigh, "I had better get back to the caravan." He stood.

In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Gaga scooped Niko up and set him on his shoulders. "I will carry you back." He said, and started walking. Niko started to chuckle, then they both laughed merrily as they moved toward the wagons.

--End Long, Involved Flashback--


	3. Chapter 3

This next chapter is relatively short. Sorry.

"Wow! What an amazing story!" exclaimed Yuushi.

"Hmph! I'm just surprised Gaga could laugh like that. He's such an old stick-in-the-mud." Sniffed Grenda.

"But, Princess…" gaga sighed, thinking, 'you are part of the reason I'm like this. If I wasn't, you'd get into so much more trouble… Oh, my! I can't believe I'm even thinking this!'

They had arrived at the path to Yuushi's house. Before parting, Yuushi said, "Wouldn't it be amazing if the gypsies who just came to town were the same ones Gaga met? Although," she added thoughtfully, "Niko-kun would be an old man by now, we'd have to call him Nomasdina-san!"

"Gaga-san!"

The shout came from down the street. The figure who had shouted was coming up swiftly at a lope, his long legs carrying him with easy grace. He was a tall man, lean but fit, with thick, wavy black hair, piercingly green eyes, and an eagle nose.

"Gaga-san!" he cried. "It's me little Niko-kun, though I'm not so little anymore! I could probably lift _you_ now!" As he reached them, he caught Gaga up in a bear hug, twirling him around. "looks like I was right!"

Yuushi, Cube, and Grenda looked at each other. What were the chances?


	4. Chapter 4

"Niko-kun?"

Gaga was shocked. Not only was he face to face with someone he hadn't seen in 50 years, but the little boy he remembered had grown up. A fine man in his latter middle years, he was still in fine health; the only sign of his age was the silvering at his temples, although his wavy black hair was still thick. 'He'd be 58 now.' Gaga thought. 'That's old enough to have some young grandchildren, for humans.'

"No, it's Nomasdina-san now, isn't it?" he corrected himself.

Niko laughed, "I may be grown up, but you're still my elder Gaga-san. Niko-san is good enough." Just then, Niko noticed Yuushi and Cube. "And who might these be?"

"Oh! I'm Yuushi, and this is Cube. Pleased to meet you, Niko-san!" Yuushi smiled up at him. "Gaga just told us about how you two met!" Niko smiled back down at her. "That was a good time." He turned to Gaga "You look just like you did then; maybe a bit more careworn, but still good."

"Thank you, but how are you doing? Did you ever master the Sight?"

"I'm doing very well! I'm now the Caravan Boss, and while I haven't _completely_ mastered the Sight, I can accurately gauge potential and see through any deceit."

"Hmph!" Said Grenda, miffed at being overlooked. "That's not so special, any magician could do the same!"

"Really? And I suppose you could do it, couldn't you?" Niko smiled still, but there was an edge of sarcasm to his reply.

"Actually, Princess, a magician can't do those things. Or, if he can, he can't do them nearly so well or so quickly. It would take a great deal of time and effort, and it's doubtful that he would succeed in time to be useful." Gaga didn't want to offend the princess, but he didn't want her to offend Niko-kun, Niko-_san_, either.

"Shut up Gaga!"

"My apologies, Princess"

"Princess?" Niko raised one eyebrow skeptically.

"That's right! I'm the Princess of Hell, with radiant beauty and fantastic magical powers!"

Niko looked at Gaga. "My respect for you has doubled. To be able to put up with a brat like this must truly be a challenge."

"Niko-san!" Gaga was aghast, this was going so _badly_…

"How dare you!" Grenda exclaimed, enraged. "I'm the Princess of Hell! You should show more respect!"

'Ah, but you see, _Princess_," he made the word an insult, "I cannot respect you. If you want to gain the respect of others, you must first show _them_ respect." Niko's smile was not at all pleasant.

"Really Papa, you could be a bit nicer."

They all turned to see a young woman standing a few feet away. She had silky black hair which she had braided, then coiled into a bun at the back of her head. She had left two long locks framing her face, falling in front of her shoulders. She had large, lovely green eyes that sparkled with amusement, long, curling lashes, high cheekbones, and a mouth shaped with a gem-cutter's precision. A wry smile made her human, rather than inhumanly beautiful.

"Papa?" asked Cube, who had been ignored all this time. Niko looked at him, smiling normally again. "Onua is my daughter, the one prophesied to be the most talented of her type. Those talents lie in music, dance, and gymnastics." He grinned proudly, "She's also as beautiful as her mother once was; that's a bonus."

"So the prophesy _was_ fulfilled. I was wondering about that." Gaga was relieved to be on a safer subject. He also couldn't help thinking that Onua was the most beautiful woman _he'd_ ever seen. He looked at her again, and felt his face grow warm when she smiled at him.

"You must be Gaga-san," she said. "Papa told me all about you. It's nice to finally meet you."

She curtsied gracefully. Hastily remembering his manners, Gaga bowed in return and said, I'm pleased to meet you too, how long will you be in town?"

"A few weeks at least, so we'll see each other again. But it's getting dark, we should return to the caravan, Papa." This last was directed to Niko.

"True, true, and I'm sure you four will need to get home as well. So I'll bid you goodnight."

"Good night."

"So long!"

"See you again!

Grenda, still sulking, said nothing. Instead she turned away in a huff.

Niko and Onua turned and left; he with long, casual strides; she with a sedate, swaying walk. Yuushi and Cube waved goodbye to Grenda and Gaga, then ran up the path towards their house. Inside Yuushi's adoptive father, Gunberd, was awaiting them, a huge meal spread over the table. "Welcome home Yuushi!"

Yuushi sighed, looking at the table, "Papa, you didn't have to make so much! You'd think I had been gone for a month, instead of just a day!"

"But, Yuushi…"

"Sigh…its okay, Papa."

Scene switches to the outside of the house.

"Itadakimasu!"


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

Yuushi and Kokoru found the kitchen easily. They just followed their noses. They came upon a clearing in the wagons, a round space with an open-air kitchen. Standing by a stove was a middle-aged woman. She was an ample woman in all respects; solid, but full-figured, with brown hair pulled back into a sensible bun. She wore a practical brown dress and white apron, and her shoes were as prudent as the rest of her. She smiled kindly at them and said, "So I've assistants now, have I? I'm Niobe, head cook and Niko's wife. What are your names?"

"I'm Yuushi, ma'am. And this is Kokoru-chan."

"Well, I'm pleased to meet you both. Help me with this sauce, would you Kokoru-chan? There's a dear. Yuushi-chan, please start chopping those almonds, and make sure they're chopped very fine…"

The scene changes as they start on their tasks.

Beth and Erumina found the costuming wagon near the center of the caravan. Onua was there, setting out various outfits and putting some aside for repair. She heard them approach and looked up. "Oh, good evening, I suppose you two are here to help out?"

"Yes, I am Erumina, and this is Beth, we were told to assist you with the costuming."

"That's right. Can either of you sew?"

"I can." said Erumina.

"Very well, you start on the pile that needs repairs. Beth-chan you help me fold and sort these into piles…"

The scene changes as they start working.

Grenda and Niko walk to a wagon with a flat piece of cleared ground in front of it. The wagon is on the side nearest the town, but still out of sight of the towns-people. Grenda is still huffy; she refuses to follow Niko inside the wagon. He enters, and comes out a few seconds later with a sheathed sword, a daisy, and an apple. He looks at Grenda, who is still refusing to look at him.

"You know, if you don't stop scowling, your face will get stuck like that.'

"Hmph, let's just get this over with."

He sighed. "Very well. Hold this." He handed her the daisy.

She took it.

"Now balance this on your head." He held out the apple.

"Now you're just trying to make me look ridiculous!"

"True, it will look silly." He said with a smile, "But it's also part of the act, and it needs to be done."

"Grr. Fine!" She set the apple on her head, right between her two pigtails.

"Perfect. Now you just need to stand still." He drew his sword. It was a fine rapier, long, thin, and keen-edged. It has a cross-hilt guard and a wire-wrapped hilt. He held it front of him; then began tapping his foot. It was an even, steady beat; one that matched perfectly with the beat of Grenda's heart. Then he began to move. Slowly at first, he moved, twisting the sword in his grasp, turning it over and over, shifting from stance to stance in smooth, almost hypnotic, movements. Then he began to speed up. The beat quickened, as did his movements, until the sword was just a blur, overhand, underhand, around his shoulders, over his head, behind his back. He moved yet more quickly, until the sword left after-images of circles, flowers, curlicues, and crescents; until it hummed in its own wind. Then he turned to Grenda. He leaped forward, and the sword was a flashing blur as it flicked and hummed around her hands, plucking the petals from the daisy. It whirred around her ears and face, almost touching her. She couldn't move, not because she was frightened, but because she was fascinated like a mouse is by a serpent. Then Niko raised the sword above his head, as though to split her from crown to shoulders. And the sword came down.

**Notes: The thing Niko is performing is the Battleblade Dance from the Redwall series, which is performed by Martin the Warrior, supposedly the best swordsman ever in the series. No, I won't have that series in here, I just liked the concept. **


	6. Chapter 6

Gaga was walking along the edge of town looking for the caravan. He had decided to visit Niko-kun, 'Niko-_san_', he corrected himself, if he wasn't too busy. It was also a good idea to check up on Grenda. As he reached the caravan he saw Niko with his sword above his head and Grenda standing directly in that sword's path. Instinct took over. He hadn't seen Niko in fifty years, and his memory was of a little boy. He suddenly saw him as a man threatening the Princess whose duty it was for him to protect and care for. So he did the first thing that occurred to him. He jumped into the path of the sword, intending to block it from striking the princess.

Niko was shocked. He hadn't been expecting anyone to interfere with the practice, so he had narrowed his focus to himself, the sword, and Grenda. The sudden appearance of someone very much taller threw him off, and he wasn't able to stop himself in time. The sword passed right through Gaga's head and body, and he fell to the ground. Grenda screamed, and the members of the caravan, as well as the other four girls, came running.

"What happened?"

"Grenda, what's the matter?"

They stopped and stared at the sight of Gaga lying on the ground, with Niko standing over him with a drawn sword.

"Niko-san what happened? Did you kill Gaga?"

Niko looked over at Grenda, to his surprise, she was holding back tears. He softened and said kindly, "here's my handkerchief, you look like you'll need it. If he hadn't gotten in the way, I'd have sliced the apple in half without touching you."

She took it with trembling hands and blew her nose. Regaining her composure, she turned to him angrily, "Why did you kill him?"

Niko sighed, "He's not dead. This sword can't kill anybody." He hefted it.

"Huh?"

"It was forged by a pacifist during a war several hundred years ago. The king at the time ordered him to make a sword, but he didn't want to kill people. So he created this. It works perfectly well against unintelligent animals and objects, but on any sentient being it merely knocks them out for a while. Supposedly its effects differ between the five major peoples, but it won't kill any of them."

"What do you mean, its effect vary?"

"The length of time they're unconscious for one thing. Supposedly there were additional side-effects for demons, but I don't know what they were, only that they aren't fatal."

"So Gaga's just unconscious, good."

"Actually, now that I think on it, I could use the Sight to see what those side affects are."

"Well then, why don't you?"

"I will if you'll stop bothering me."

Grenda crossed her arms impatiently. She had been really worried, though she didn't want to show it. As much as she disliked how stuffy Gaga could be, she hadn't wanted him to be hurt.

Niko raised his sword to eye level and stared at it. As he did, his eyes grew even more green and piercing, and became slit-pupiled, like a hawk's. He blinked, and they were normal again. "Well, _that's_ interesting."

"What is?"

"This doesn't just knock demons out, it turns them human."

"_What?_"

"It turns them human. Gaga will become human, and I can't tell by looking how to fix it."

"But Gaga's _old_. Humans don't live to be over 1000. How can he be human and live?"

"That's also interesting. The man who forged this thought of that, so he included a spell to automatically change any demon-turned-human into his prime."

"His prime?"

"That's right. Not only will Gaga be human, he'll be youthened to about 25."

"That's…amazing. And hard to believe."

"But true. Look, it's worked already, and he's starting to wake up."

**Notes: Yay! An original idea! The sword is completely my own idea, so nyeh! If you think I'm mooching this one, I'm not, I swear. Sadly, the way Niko's eyes change isn't completely original. I got that from a combination of Naruto (Sasuke's Sharingan and Naruto's fox-eyes) and Tamora Pierce's Trickster's Choice (Aly's Sight, which is where the basic idea for the Sight came from.) So for those ideas, I apologize for mooching off them, but I don't own them, so I've officially disclaimerfied my fanfic. I also hereby disclaimerfy any future mooching, and apologize in advance. I'll probably mention where I got them though. Whew! Long note!**


	7. Chapter 7

Gaga stirred, then pushed himself up onto all fours. His hair fell in his face, but fell away again as he sat up. He stood, and blinked. Why was everyone staring at him? And did everything seem just a bit taller? He blinked again. There was more color in the world now too, that was strange. He looked at his hands to steady himself, and blinked again. His hands were smaller, less paw-like, though still larger than the average. They were also pink, or rather, the color of human skin. In fact, they were human hands. He blinked again. Why did he have human hands?

"What happened?"

"You jumped in the way and were struck by this sword, which just happens to turn demons into humans." Said Niko calmly.

"_What?_"

"Luckily for you, it also turned you 25, so you didn't die of old age."

"_WHAT?_"

"Since this is my fault, you'll be staying with us while you figure out how to cope as a human."

"But, but, but…can't you change me back?"

"No, or at least, I can't figure out how to. We'll work on it, but for the time being at least, you're human."

Gaga's shoulders slumped. How was he supposed to serve as Grenda's steward if he wasn't even a demon anymore? Grenda seemed to figure out what he was thinking.

"Gaga."

"Yes, Princess?"

"When was the last time you had a vacation?"

"What?"

"When was the last time you had a vacation?"

"I've never had one, Princess." Gaga was confused, where was she going with this? "My duties to the royal family took precedence."

"In that case, you're overdue. Until you get turned back into a demon, you're on vacation." She smiled haughtily, trying not to show any kindness.

"But, Princess, what will I _do_? As I said, I've never been on vacation before."

"Ah, now _that_ question I can answer." interjected Niko. "You'll have a 'working vacation.' You can help out around the caravan, earning your keep; and at the same time learning how to be a human. It ought to keep you occupied, and since we gypsies are more lenient than most people, you needn't worry so much about making a faux pas."

Onua smiled, it was a good solution, and since Grenda had given her approval, he couldn't object. Gaga still looked worried, though. Onua decided to fix that. "Turn around."

"What?" He was startled and confused.

"Turn around. I'm going to do something about your hair, or it'll get in the way all the time."

As he turned around, the other gypsies went back to their duties. Niobe said, "Come, Yuushi-chan, Kokoru-chan, let's get back to the kitchen. I don't think we've been gone long enough for anything to be ruined, but we'd best hurry, just in case."

Onua reached up and pulled Gaga's hair back into a neat tail, securing it with a black tie. The back of his neck tingled at her touch. He tried to ignore it.

"There, that should keep it out of your face. You can help me and Erumina-chan and Beth-chan with the costumes."

"Are you taller Onua-san?" Something was off. She shouldn't have been able to reach his head so easily.

"Of course not, you're just a bit shorter is all. Humans don't usually grow to be seven feet tall." She thought for a bit. "I'd say you're maybe an inch taller than my father now. That's still pretty tall, but within reaching distance for normal people. Now come on, we have work to do."

As they left, Niko asked Grenda to put the apple back on her head, so they could try again.

**Note: The reason Gaga could see more color as a human was that as a demon, he was cat-like. Cats see very little color and detail; instead, they are very sensitive to movement. Humans are the other way around. They see far more color, and far more intricate colors, but often don't even notice things moving right in front of them. Also, Gaga's hands in demon form don't really look like paws, but they have no discernable wrists, so that's the closest I could get to describing them.**


	8. Chapter 8

That Night

Inside their family wagon the Nomasdina family was preparing for bed. Niko was sitting on the steps, polishing his various blades, a practice he'd kept up for many years. Niobe shook out a blanket before beginning to fold it to be put away. Niobe lay on her stomach on her bed, feet in the air. She had her chin propped on one hand, while she lazily flicked a fan open and shut with the other. She stared off into space with a half-thoughtful, half-dreamy look on her face. Gaga was staying in a wagon with one of the young bachelors for the time being; an easy-going, quick-witted lad by the name of Joconan, who brought the caravan surprising amounts of money by selling his 'whittled-bits,' as he called them.

Gaga had been rather useful with the costumes earlier. He didn't repair any of them, but he was quite adept at organizing the different outfits. With his help they had managed to finish far earlier than she had expected. Satisfied that they had completed their duties for the day, she had sent the girls home, and had gone with Gaga to watch her father practice with Grenda. It had been quite entertaining, especially how amazed Gaga had been.

He'd said that he hadn't realized exactly _how_ skilled Niko was with blades; he hadn't even realized that Niko _used_ other blades besides the sword. In truth, Niko had mastered virtually every bladed weapon, and was at least proficient with all of the unbladed ones. That was his calling, after all, and it was feats of skill with these that he performed at their shows.

Onua's mind turned to her own bladed weapon, the _shukusen_. A delicate-looking piece of work, her father had forged it himself. Forged, for it was of the finest steel. A steel-ribbed and razor-edged fan, with a black gryphon rampant on the silver cloth between the ribs, it was as dangerous as any sword, and its beauty was deceptive. She sighed. Gaga had been impressed when she had shown it to him; he had complimented the workmanship and balance, and had said that such a weapon suited her perfectly, and was quite becoming. She smiled; he had blushed slightly as he said it, as if embarrassed to have complimented her. He probably was, now she thought on it. He was surprisingly innocent for an over-a-thousand-year-old demon, and as he was now a twenty-five-year-old human, he must have been worried about a faux pas.

"What's the matter, mooning over Long Lankin?"

Onua looked up to see her mother sitting on the edge of the other bed, smiling in a knowing way. By Long Lankin she meant Gaga.

"Mmm-hmm." Onua replied, "That's one _fine _looking man."

Niobe raised one eyebrow. "Looks had better not be the _only_ reason you're mooning."

Onua rolled her eyes. "Oh, mother as if _I_ could be fooled by a pretty face! You'll remember that I have both you and Papa as examples, and almost every boy in all the gypsy clans has sought my hand at some point. I'm not _that_ superficial."

"I never said you were. It's just the cautious mother in me, I suppose."

"I understand. Thank you for being careful for me, but there's no need."

Gaga was lying on his back on the extra bed that Joconan had offered him, thinking. This had been an extremely tiring day, but he couldn't sleep yet. It might have had something to do with the fact that Joconan snored, but it was a gentle snore, and not particularly disturbing. He had to admit it to himself; it wasn't his roommate's habits that kept him awake, it was just how _strange_ everything was now.

Things were different as a human. He couldn't see nearly so well in the dark as he could before, but there was a surfeit of new sensations and energies he had never felt before. The sights, sounds, and smells, even tastes were slightly different. Not stronger, no. If anything they were weaker. But he noticed them more, as if they were more important to him now. He felt so very _alive_ it was impossible to sleep. Energy he hadn't felt in centuries was pulsing through him.

He had forgotten what it was like to be young. He had never deceived himself; he knew he had been old, even by demonic standards. Sometimes he thought it had been sheer stubbornness that had kept him going. (That, and loyalty to the Royal Family of Hell.) But that was no longer the case. Despite the ordeal of the day, he hadn't done any hard labor, so he was still restless, and he was unused to such a strange feeling.

Thinking of strange feelings… He couldn't understand the sensations he felt whenever Onua was close. The hairs on the back of his neck would rise, and his senses would sharpen, as if she was dangerous… but he felt no fear, just a pleasant tingling. It was somewhat disturbing, but he felt, perversely, as if he _wanted_ her to disturb him that way. He yawned, and, finally getting sleepy, decided that such thoughts could wait for tomorrow.

**Notes: Shukusen may not be the real name of the Japanese bladed fan, but that's what it was called in Protecter of the Small. Joconan is a name from another book I can't remember, and probably has nothing to do with my character here, except the name. Also, continuing the theme from before, humans don't have as good of night-vision as cats. **


	9. Chapter 9

The Next Day

Gaga stretched languidly. He had slept well and deeply once he got to sleep. He looked over towards his roommate's bed, only to see it empty; Joconan was already up and about. Gaga got up, and after making his bed, went to the door and looked outside. He was surprised to see that the sun had just come up, but the caravan was already busy. Gypsies went about various tasks, cleaning tools, preparing for the day's work. A delicious smell drew him towards the center of the caravan, where Niobe was stirring an immense cauldron carefully.

She looked up at him and grinned, "Good morning, Gaga-san. Get yourself a bowl and spoon and I'll serve you up some breakfast."

He did so, and she ladled out a large scoop of porridge into his bowl. Unlike normal porridge though, this had bits of almond and apple mixed in, and it was well sweetened with milk and honey. She dusted some cinnamon over his bowl before handing it back to him.

"Try it and tell me what you think."

He tasted it, and it was delicious, sweet and creamy. "It's wonderful! You are an incredible cook Niobe-san; you turned porridge into a treat."

She flapped a hand at him, pleased. "Oh, please, spare me my blushes!"

"It must be difficult, feeding so many people every day."

"Not really, the main problem is keeping large enough quantities of food fresh long enough. We usually only take enough for us to make it to the next town, so it doesn't spoil. Since we'll be here for a while, though, we'll get new supplies almost every day, as well as some of the treats that don't keep so well. Speaking of which, later this morning I'm going to send Onua shopping, would you mind going along? One person can only carry so much."

"Of course I'll go; I'm glad to help out."

"Good, that's one thing off my mind, now eat your porridge."

"Yes, ma'am." Gaga smiled as he ate, reflecting that even though he was technically her senior, Niobe was a mother to everyone who met her.

As he was finishing Niko came up and sat next to him on one of the benches. "I'd like to apologize for yesterday, Gaga-san, and for my behavior towards Grenda-chan. She just seems to irritate me."

"That's quite all right Niko-san. The princess can be a bit trying, but she has a good heart."

"_Who_ can be trying?" Gaga turned to see Grenda and the other girls standing right behind him. He jumped up, startled.

"Princess! Oh, um, ah…"

"Oh, forget it. I'll let it pass since you're on vacation."

Niko looked up, not at all concerned. "Good, you've arrived. Grenda-chan, you'll be practicing with me again today. Beth-chan and Erumina-chan will be setting some equipment up, and Yuushi-chan and Kokoru-chan will assist Joconan-kun in selling some of his carvings. Let's get started."

As they all left to begin their duties, Onua walked up. Gaga noticed her arrival and greeted her.

"Good morning Onua-san!" He felt that weird tingle again as she smiled at him and replied, "Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you for asking, and you?"

"Very well, thank you." She turned Niobe. "Mother, I'm ready to do the shopping."

"Good. Take this basket, dear. Gaga-san here's a list of what you need. Onua, Gaga-san will be helping you shop today."

"Thank you Gaga-san, I really appreciate you coming along."

Gaga blushed and said, "It's no problem at all, I'm glad to be with you." Realizing how odd that sounded he hastily amended, "I-I mean, I'm happy to help." His blush deepened with embarrassment as Onua smiled at his mistake.

Niobe saved him by saying, "Shoo you two! I've still the bread to bake, and I'll need some of those supplies before dinner."

"Oh, of course, Niobe-san. Shall we, Onua-san?" Gaga said, and then they walked off.

Niobe smiled, it was obvious that Gaga was smitten by her daughter, even if he didn't realize it himself.

**Notes: …I don't really need notes, do I? Oh, well, I'll just give you a preview of what will happen in the next chapter. Gaga finds out something that shocks him, after being put in a confusing situation. (confusing to him, anyway.)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chap. 10

Gaga and Onua walked along the road into town, on their ay to go shopping. Onua wore a pale blue dress with puffed sleeves and a wide-brimmed, ladies' straw hat, and carried a whicker basket over one arm. Gaga wore an outfit that she had fitted for him the day before, a round-collared black jacket and pants. They looked pretty good on him, not unlike a uniform. They reached town as the last of the shops opened. They began wandering throughout the market, selecting different products as necessary and paying for them.

"Gaga-san," said Onua, "I'm going to go look for some spices my mother wants, would you mind getting some carrots?"

"Of course not, Onua-san. Shall I meet you back here when I have them?"

"That would be good. I'll be back in a bit!"

They parted ways, with Onua going towards a spice shop around the corner and Gaga looking for a vegetable stand nearby. He made the purchase and took the paper bag with carrots back to the meeting-place to wait for Onua.

Onua was still looking through the spices in the shop, trying to pick out the best ones. "Hmm. This one looks good. Let's see, oregano, chili powder, saffron, dill…" She made her purchases and put them in her basket. Leaving the shop, she heard a slight commotion coming from where she had left Gaga. She went to the corner and looked around, intending to find out what was going on before revealing herself. The sight that met her eyes was amusing, to say the least.

Gaga was backed up against a wall, the bag of carrots set at his feet. He was surrounded by young women, and looked extremely confused and nervous, almost sweating. They were talking to him, or rather, at him, as he seemed to be too frightened to reply, though he tried to, so as not to be rude. The other townspeople seemed to have noticed his plight, but weren't interfering. The young men were grouped on the other side of the plaza, looking distinctly annoyed, casting dirty looks his way. Onua smiled, she had better intervene or there would be trouble later.

Gaga was feeling distinctly harried. He had no idea why these young ladies were pestering him, and he sensed dander from the young men across the plaza. He just wished that Onua would come back so they could finish their shopping and return to the caravan.

"Darling!"

He looked to see where that came from, and saw Onua running towards him, smiling.

"Darling! There you are! I was trying to find you, but there were so many people, I couldn't see you!" The crowd of women parted, and she came up to him. Catching hold of his hand, she looked at him earnestly. "We still need to finish the shopping for Mother, what's going on?"

"Oh, ah, I was waiting here for you, but then all of these ladies came and wanted to talk to me, and I was so confused, I couldn't find you either. I kept on wondering when you'd return." He was relieved that she was here, and the crowd of girls was starting to break up, looking slightly annoyed. The men across the plaza didn't seem so hostile now either. He was so thankful that he didn't even question her calling him 'darling.' "Let's finish the shopping, shall we?"

They walked off together as the marketplace went back to normal. He realized that Onua was still holding his hand and reddened. He tried to tug his hand away gently, but she just held tighter, saying, "Don't let go, at least not until we finish the shopping and leave town." He reddened more, but didn't try to let go again.

When they had finished the shopping and were outside of town, she released him. He stopped , turning to confront her.

"What was that all about?" he asked. "Why were those girls surrounding me? Why were the young men angry? Why did you insist on holding my hand? And why did you call me 'darling'?" He blushed while asking the last two questions.

She sighed. "You probably haven't realized this, but…Gaga-san, you're _gorgeous_, if such a term can be used for a man."

"What?" He was shocked; the idea that he was good-looking was not one he had heard before. He had always assumed that he was about average in looks.

"You probably haven't had anyone tell you that before, simply because you were so old. You weren't at your best, and it's also possible that you're better-looking as a human than as a demon. But for now at least, you're incredibly handsome. That's why those girls were mobbing you, and why the men disliked you so much. They were jealous of how you attracted the ladies. That situation would have gotten way out of hand if I hadn't done something."

"Yes, but why did you call me 'darling'?" That was truly bothering him, and he turned even redder. The propriety…

"I had to convince the girls that you weren't available, so they would leave you alone. If they left you alone, the men would no longer see you as a threat and also leave you alone. So I gave them the impression that we're together. That's why I called you 'darling', and why I made you hold my hand. I _am_ sorry for forcing you to do something that made you uncomfortable."

"Oh, no, ah, I mean… It's not that I didn't like holding your hand, it's just that, well…it doesn't seem…right." He said lamely, worried that he had offended her.

She chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. Let's get these supplies back to Mother, okay?"

"Y-yes, let's."

They walked back to the caravan.


	11. Chapter 11

That Evening

Gaga and Niko sat on a hill overlooking the camp. Gaga had just finished telling Niko what had happened that day, and was waiting to see what his reaction would be. He didn't think that Niko'd be angry, but he was worried that he hadn't done something to make it work out better.

"Well." said Niko. "That was an interesting adventure."

"You mean you're not upset? I did cause quite a commotion."

"Of course I'm not upset. You can't help what you look like, or how people react to you. Actually, this is a good thing. I was wondering how to explain you to the villagers without jeopardizing safety. This is as good a solution as any I could come up with, and it happened by complete accident."

"But…but…"

"But you're worried about the propriety."

"Yes, I mean, we're not really a couple…and it doesn't seem right for Onua-san to have to pretend that we are."

"For _Onua_ to pretend? What about you? You've no objections to being seen as her boyfriend yourself?"

"Oh, well, er…I didn't mean…it's not that I dislike her company in any way, in fact, I enjoy it greatly, but it isn't right to be deceiving the villagers this way." He looked flustered, turning red.

_Ah, so your objection is not to the fact that they view you as a couple, but to the fact that you _aren't_ a couple._ Niko thought, but he said only. "I see."

They sat there for awhile in a comfortable silence. Eventually Gaga spoke. "Niko-san, why does Onua-san have a weapon? So far as I can tell, everyone in your caravan does, but you are not a warlike people. Why do you carry weapons?"

"Ah, now_ that_ is a good question. You may not have realized this Gaga-san, because you do not travel as much as we do. Gypsies such as us are not all that well-liked in many societies. In many cases we are viewed as a passing nuisance at best, and a hated plague at worst."

"But why?"

"Why? Because we're different. We keep late hours; we hold loud parties; we flaunt our bodies and our skills to anyone who will watch; we don't work at dull, boring jobs all day; we move around constantly, never settling down. Many of the conservative peoples find our way of life disturbing, to say the least. And because we owe allegiance to no-one, we are not protected by the laws of the countries we visit, even though we are bound by them. Because of this, we can't count on the protection from dangers that citizens can. We must defend ourselves."

"Oh, I…I see." Gaga had never thought about it before. Niko sighed, then let himself fall backwards to lie on the grass and watch the clouds drift across the sky.

"That is why we all carry weapons. Each of us tries to master the use of at least one weapon, as well as some kind of hand-to-hand combat. Thus, we are never helpless. Some of us even wear some kind of light armor under our clothing, though that is rare, since armor is expensive."

"Do you wear armor, Niko-san?" Gaga joined him in lying down.

"No. I decided a while back that if my sword skills were not enough to keep my skin whole, it wasn't worth keeping. Onua does though."

"She does?"

"Hmmm, yes. The ribs of her corset are overlapping steel."

"Niko-san! I don't know which is more disturbing, that Onua-san wears armor, or that you are so free with talking about her underthings!"

"You asked. Besides, if I can't talk to you about such things, who can I talk to them about? You are, after all, my best friend."

"You shouldn't talk about them at all!" Gaga tried to look angry, but eventually he couldn't help grinning. "You haven't changed a bit in the fifty years it's been. You're still just as frank now as you were then." He paused, and then asked, "Am I really your best friend?"

"Of course. You're the only one besides my family that can really make me think, about normal things that is."

"What do you mean?"

"You see things differently than do most gypsies, or for that matter, most humans. You ask questions that I hadn't thought about before, about things that most of us take for granted. It's most refreshing." He grinned. "Even if you are older than dirt."

"Hey! At the moment, I'm younger than you!" Gaga sat back up, feigning annoyance. He couldn't really get angry at Niko, he was too affable.

"Oh? Then you had best mind your manners, youngling!" Niko sat up as well, grinning.

"Yes sir, oh mighty gypsy leader sir! Your wish is my command, Nomasdina-sama!"

"In that case, I wish that you would call me just plain Niko. If we're best friends, it's only right."

Gaga hesitated, and then smiled. "…very well, Niko, if you'll call me simply Gaga."

"It is a bargain, then?"

"It is a bargain." They shook hands solemnly, and then laughed as Niobe rang the dinner bell and they headed back towards camp.


	12. Chapter 12

Lunchtime, A Few Days Later

Things had begun to settle into a routine. In the mornings after breakfast, Gaga and Onua would go to the village and pick up anything that the caravan needed, and then when they returned, Onua would take Yuushi, Kokoru, Erumina, and Beth off to do something, and Gaga would help out around the caravan with whatever needed doing. Grenda and Niko would practice for a few hours, and then Grenda would join the other girls in whatever they were doing with Onua, who refused to tell what it was.

Gaga was starting to get used to Onua calling him 'darling' in town, but it still made him uncomfortable. And although he secretly delighted in having her act like they were a couple, he refused to admit, even to himself, that he thought of her as more than just his best friend's daughter. He was starting to notice more about her, and everything he noticed made him like her all the more. They way she spoke her mind without mincing words, the way she always seemed to know what he was thinking when he couldn't get it to come out right, the way her eyes danced when she was amused, the way she never, ever, stumbled, as if she had absolutely perfect balance, the way she walked completely upright, with confidence, these were only a few of the wonderful things about her.

Gaga sat on a bench near the kitchen, finishing his lunch. Niobe was taking the plates of the last few besides him who were still there. When everyone save Gaga and Niobe were gone, she grinned at him. "Last one again today? I'm beginning to think you savor my cooking, you eat so slowly."

"Of course I like your cooking, Niobe-san, when have I ever said otherwise?" He smiled back, standing.

"Never, you're such a good boy."

"Am I? I hadn't noticed."

"Yes you are, now come help me clean up."

"Yes ma'am."

Amused, he began by filling a large tub with hot water. Despite the fact that, chronologically anyway, he was about twenty times her age, Niobe had called him a boy, as if he were a child. As he rolled back his sleeves and began scrubbing dishes, Niobe spoke. "How well did you know Niko before you parted ways?"

"Oh, I believe I knew him rather well. We hadn't met but a day before he left, but during that short time we became fast friends. I always admired how forthright he was."

"Hmm. He always said that since he can spot a lie, it was only fair that he refrain from lying himself. That's not to say he can't be sneaky. I'll never know how he can be so infernally deceptive without actually lying. It's probably a good thing that he developed guile, though."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, he can be a bit stubborn about some things, and there are times when speaking your mind can get you in trouble. Like when he met Grenda-chan."

Gaga winced at the memory. "But they seem to be getting along a bit better now."

"A bit, yes, but you'll notice that they speak civilly, no more."

"That's true. I wish they would become friends as well, though I doubt that will happen." By this time they had finished with the normal dishes and were starting on the cookware.

"Well, Niko has always been protective of those he considers 'his'. And it doesn't help that he has a naturally low opinion of royalty as a whole. It's probably a good thing that he hasn't met Queen Erlsel."


	13. Chapter 13

"It's a pity he dislikes royalty, Queen Erlsel is a competent ruler. I'm sure that if he got to know her, he would like her." said Gaga, silently adding _though she's a bit…ditzy._

"Hmm. That's possible. I simply hope that if they meet, he doesn't get all protective of us."

"Protective? Why would he? It's not like she's threatening you."

"Perhaps not, but there have been many rulers who have, either personally or through their military. Once, we had to flee a country because he nearly lost his temper. The lord of that land had been making some subtle threats, and he was sick of it. He decided to make some unsubtle threats back."

"What did he say?"

"If I recall, it was something along the lines of 'I don't appreciate your poor attempts at intimidation. If you're going to threaten my family, do so openly. However, if you ever cause harm to me and mine, I'll hunt you down like a rabbit and lop off your head.'"

"What? Did he know how dangerous it was to say that?"

"I'm sure he did. And he didn't care. When he says he'll do something, he'll do it, even if it's potentially devastating. He meant every word he said. He really would have killed that man, and hang the consequences." She looked Gaga squarely in the eye. "Don't you have anything that you would willingly give up everything, your life, your honor, your station, your dignity, _everything_ for?" They had finished with all of the cleaning up by now, and Niobe left Gaga to ponder that question.

_Did_ he have anything like that? Something that he'd willingly give up everything, his life, his honor, his station, and his dignity for?

_A week ago, I wouldn't even have thought about it. I'd have said 'yes, for my duty as Princess Grenda's servant, I would do anything.' But now…I'm not sure I would. Or rather, I would do it, but unwillingly. That's not the same thing. _Do_ I have anything I would willingly give up everything for? _

He was interrupted in his pondering by Niko, who had sent Grenda off to join the other girls. Niko jerked his head for him to follow him. "Come on, I've got something for you to do."

Gaga followed him to the place where Niko practiced with Grenda every day. "What is it that you wanted me to do?"

"Take this." Niko held out a sheathed sword. "Starting today, you'll be taking fencing lessons from me."

"What?"

"It's quite possible that we won't be able to change to back to a demon, or at least, it will take a long time to figure out how, if there even is a way. You need to learn to defend yourself as a human."

"But won't that interfere with your other duties?"

"Not really. As the time for our festival and performances approaches, I'll need to do more administrative work, but I should be able to spare an hour every afternoon to teach you."

"Oh."

"Now draw your sword."

Gaga did so. It was a fine blade, even and balanced, with a cross-guard and a wire-wrapped hilt that fit his hand well.

"We'll begin at the beginning. Tell me everything you know about swords and swordsmanship."

Gaga looked at the blade for a moment, then started.


	14. Chapter 14

A Few Days Later

Gaga wiped the last of the water from his face, and then tied back his hair in the usual tail. His morning grooming ritual done, he slipped into his jacket, adjusting the round collar so that his white shirt didn't show, as was customary. He wondered what Niobe would have made for breakfast today. Whatever it was, it was sure to be delicious. He left the wagon, and started towards the kitchen area. It was always a surprise to him how early the majority of the gypsies woke, considering how late they stayed up. He'd always been an early riser, because he needed to be up and prepared before the princess, but he wasn't used to the late nights. Grenda usually liked her rest. Luckily, his newfound youthful energy kept him awake and alert, so he was able to cope with the hours.

He arrived at the kitchen and took a plate of what looked like toast. He looked closer and saw that the bread had been soaked in eggs before being fried in a pan. He shrugged, if Niobe had made it, it must be good, and the others ate it with obvious relish. He looked for a place to sit, and saw Onua sitting on a bench next to Joconan, talking to him between bites of toast. He walked over to them and said, "Do you mind if I join you, Onua-san, Joconan-san?"

"Not at all, Gaga-san. Please, sit." Replied Onua brightly, while Joconan merely smiled his welcome, mouth too full to say anything.

Gaga sat, and tried the toast. It _was_ good, eggy and filling, with a bit of nutmeg flavor. Joconan finished his mouthful, and turned to Onua. "So, are you going shopping again today? I've got a few more whittled-bits I'd like to sell, and you could tell some of the townspeople about them for me."

"Actually, I'm not going shopping today. Mother said that what she has will last a few days, and Papa had something else he wanted me to do."

Gaga looked up from his breakfast at that. "Oh? What did he want you to do?"

"She's going to Luna Mountain, to collect some of the water from the Mére of the Moon." ere Niko had come up behind them.

Gaga choked and sputtered. "_What?_ You can't be serious, Niko!"

"Of course I'm serious. I wouldn't joke about something like this."

"It's entirely too dangerous!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Yuushi, as the girls had arrived by now. "What's dangerous?"

"He said that he's sending Onua-san to Luna Mountain, to collect some of the water from the Mére of the Moon!"

Kokoru, Beth and Yuushi were still confused as to why Gaga was so upset. "Is that a bad thing?"

"The Mére of the Moon is a pool whose waters contain great healing powers. While they cannot cure magic or heal wounds, any bodily disease or poison is completely neutralized by it." Erumina explained with her usual decorum. "However, like most desired things, it is difficult to obtain. I believe what Gaga means is that to collect the water, you must go to Luna Mountain, enter the cave at the base, and pass five challenges, each representing one of the five elements.'

"The elements?"

"Yes. The five challenges are fire, water, air or wind, earth, and chaos or void. That last has also been reported as a test of the heart, to see if you are worthy of keeping such a prize as the water of the Mére of the Moon."

"But how can chaos and void be a test of the heart?"

"I assume it has to do with loss of some kind, though I cannot be sure. Also, the challenges are in no set order, so it is impossible to predict what will happen."

"Oh! That does sound dangerous!"

"It is!" exclaimed Gaga. "And I can't imagine why Niko would send Onua-san by herself!"

"Because Onua has finished preparing her performance for the festival, and as such, has the most free time. I've allowed for three days, including travel time. That should be more than enough."

"It's not the time involved that I'm worried about! What if something happens to Onua-san?"

"It won't. She can take care of herself."

"As can you! If this is so important, why don't you go yourself?"

"Because I am responsible for this whole caravan. I have other duties, and I can't leave for even _one_ full day, let alone three."

Gaga was starting to get really angry. It wasn't like Niko to act so callous, and hadn't Niobe just told him how protective Niko was the other day?

Niko was still acting unconcerned about the idea of his only daughter going on a very dangerous journey. "She will have a horse to cut down on travel time, and if anything happens to her, he'll come right back, so I'll know."

"But what about inside the mountain? The horse can't know what goes on inside there!"

"I _can_ take care of myself, Gaga." Onua said quietly. "You don't need to worry about me."

Without really thinking, Gaga made a decision. "You're right, I don't need to worry. Because I'm going with you."


	15. Chapter 15

"_What?_" the girls exclaimed. "You're going too?"

"If Niko won't concern himself with Onua-san's safety, I will. I'm going to go, if only to see for myself that she doesn't get hurt." He glared challengingly at Niko, daring him to stop him.

Niko's eyes flashed dangerously, but he said only, "Very well. I won't stop you from going, but I don't have a spare horse, so if you both go, you'll have to walk."

"Fine. We'll walk."

"We'll go too! There's safety in numbers, right?" said Yuushi, determined to support Onua's safety.

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"You are my employees, and while I have no jurisdiction over Gaga, since he's an adult, you are still children."

"We're eighteen! We're not children!"

"Eighteen you may be, but you have the bodies of fourteen-year-olds, and I will treat you as such. You may not go."

"But, but…"

"Oh, let it go, Yuushi." said Grenda. "It's not worth arguing, he's just going to be stubborn. Oh, and Gaga?"

"Yes, Princess?" Gaga was still seething about Niko's callous behavior, but he wouldn't be rude to the princess.

"You'd better come back, and if you let Onua-san get hurt, you'll be in trouble."

"Of course, Princess, that's why I'm going along."

"Hmph."

"Well," said Niobe. "If you're going, you should start right away, instead of just standing around. Here." She held out two knapsacks. "These have enough food and water for three days, as well as some basic necessities and supplies. Onua's has an extra large-size canteen for the water from the Mére as well."

As they took the knapsacks, she said, "Now shoo! The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll get back!" They left, heading northwest, to where they could see the mountain, about two hours walk away.

Once they were gone, Niko sat down on a bench with a groan. He put his head in his hands and began rubbing his temples. He hated having to argue with Gaga, but the way things had turned out, he'd had to. Niobe took all of the girls besides Grenda and left.

Grenda looked down her nose at him. "You're a terrible actor."

"Better than you."

"I'm surprised they didn't figure out that we wanted him to go."

"Onua probably did, but I doubt she'll tell him."

"You could have just asked him to go, you know."

"I refuse to request something that dangerous from him."

"So you trick him into getting mad enough to go, making him hate you in the process. That's really smart."

"He doesn't hate me. I'm sure he'll understand when I explain it to him."

"I suppose so. This _was_ the only way for him to go all the way there without second thoughts. You're very sneaky, you know that? I'm starting to like you more and more." She smiled grudging approval.

He smiled back. "And I you, oh clever maiden, and I you."

**Notes: The last scene with Niko and Grenda is very similar to a scene from The Halfblood Chronicles. In that scene, a middle-aged-to-old man and a young woman use reverse psychology to get their opponent to do what they want him to. The last line is a direct quote.**


	16. Chapter 16

An Hour and a Half Later, On the Way to Luna Mountain

Gaga walked quickly, and if Onua were not so swift a mover herself, she'd have been left behind by his agitated strides. Gaga was still seething inwardly at Niko's unprecedented behavior. Onua had said nothing this entire time, giving him time to cool off on his own, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. She sighed, turning her thoughts towards their surroundings. They were only half an hour's trek from the base of Luna Mountain.

Unlike most mountains, Luna didn't have real foothills. Instead, it stuck out of the ground like someone had simply set it there, and the forest grew right up to its base. The woods here were rather pleasant, somewhat more open than most. So far, it had been a pleasant journey, except for Gaga's bad mood. She sighed again, with satisfaction, breathing in the clean air.

Gaga noticed the contented sigh, and looked up for the first time since they had left. He realized that he'd completely missed most of their journey so far, because of his irritation. He slowed down to a more comfortable pace, and took the time to look at the environment. As he took it in, he finally began to calm down, and turned to Onua. "I'm sorry for snapping at Niko, Onua-san, I shouldn't have done that."

"That's alright; I can understand why you were angry. And it was a good idea for you to come along. You were right, and Papa was being stubborn."

Gaga was slightly surprised at how quickly she agreed with him over her father, but didn't say anything about it.

They walked on in a comfortable silence for a while, and then Onua said, "You know what? I'm glad you came along. It's never been just the two of us before. I like it." She clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at the sky, a happy smile on her face.

Gaga was startled, he hadn't thought of it like that. _Though really, I should have. It will be three days with just me and Onua-san. We'll be…alone together…_ Gaga flushed red, and hoped that Onua didn't notice.

_Oh my goodness! I shouldn't have come, but I was just so angry, I didn't even think about it! What am I going to do?_ He glanced over at Onua, who seemed completely unconcerned. _Nothing. I can't go back now; it would waste too much time, and then who would help Onua-san? No, this was really the only thing I could do, but I still don't feel very comfortable with it…_

He tried no to think about it, but failed. To distract himself, he tried paying more attention to the details of the walk, but found his eye drawn to Onua. He remembered his first thoughts and impressions of her; how he'd thought that she was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen. Those thoughts came back strongly to him now, and nothing he saw changed his mind.

Onua was incredibly lovely, from her ebony hair and flawless complexion, to her exquisite figure and vivid green eyes, to her fine-boned frame and graceful, swaying walk. In fact, his appreciation was intensified, because he now knew that she wasn't beautiful merely on the outside, but on he inside as well. She was intelligent, clever, honest, discerning, kind, practical, and sincere; she was the perfect mixture of pragmatism and spontaneity. For a few brief moments, he allowed himself to simply appreciate her, and then he snapped himself out of such daydreams as Onua said, "Look, Gaga-san!" They had arrived at the base of Luna Mountain.


	17. Chapter 17

Luna Mountain

Gaga saw the entrance to the inside of the mountain, and pointed it out to Onua. "There's where we go in. Are you sure you want to go?"

"Of course! I hate waste, and this trip would have been wasted if we didn't even try to get the water. Let's go."

They headed for the entrance, and as they walked through it Gaga asked, "What do you think the challenges will be?"

"I have no idea, but there are five, based on the elements, so as we pass them, we'll get a better idea of what's coming up next."

"True." By this time they had started walking down the tunnel, and as they went around a corner, the entrance was lost from view. They walked for a short while, and Gaga relaxed about the challenges. _Onua-san is a very capable young woman, and I can assist her as needed, so there shouldn't be a problem._ They'd passed many curves and twists in the tunnel, but no other ways branched off, so there was no fear of getting lost. As they approached yet another bend they saw a red-orange glow, and quickened their pace.

As they turned the corner, they halted. The passageway widened suddenly, and they saw a canyon, from which the glow came. Onua walked up to the edge and looked down. "Well." she said. "I think this is the first challenge." At the bottom of the canyon, instead of a river, there was a pulsing, glowing vein of red-hot magma. The canyon was too shallow, so the flow of molten rock was uncomfortably close. Just standing at the edge Onua felt slightly blistered from the heat. The only way across this chasm was a narrow rope-and-wood hanging bridge, which bent in the middle to get even closer to the magma.

"This seems simple enough." said Onua. "We just have to get across the bridge, Gaga-san. …Gaga-san?" She turned to see him still in the tunnel, as far from the lava as he could get without actually leaving the room. He was sweating. "Is something wrong, Gaga-san?"

"I have bad memories of trying to cross lava-filled chasms…"

_Flashback: _

_Gaga, Cube, and Chow shrunk down to almost-microscopic size, inside Barizan. They were trying to find out why he had malfunctioned and collapsed, inoperative. Cube and Chow were walking across a bridge over a lava-filled chasm (inside a robot?...weird.), they looked back to see Gaga shriveled up like a dead frog from the heat, lying facedown._

_Flashback: _

_Cube and Chow holding Gaga underwater, trying to re-hydrate him from the lava-disaster. Gaga coming up sputtering, just as a flash flood, (again, inside a robot?) washes them away._

_End Flashback._

"You know we have to cross this. Putting it off won't change anything." Onua said practically.

"I know, it's just…"

Onua had sympathy on him, he really looked uncomfortable. "I tell you what, Gaga. You go first, and I'll be behind you, to make sure you can get across. If I think you're having trouble, I'll help you, okay?"

"O-okay…" Gaga steeled himself, and came forward, stepping onto the bridge.

Heat washed over him, but he walked forward. He moved tentatively, and Onua said, "You know, the faster you move, the quicker you'll get across."

"Oh, right." He walked faster, but the other side seemed so far away, and he was so hot…

About halfway across, just where the bridge sagged lowest, he slowed and stopped. Onua came up behind him and realized that he was sweating and glassy-eyed, not really aware of what was going on. Gaga stood there, his thoughts moving as slowly as thick syrup. _Hot…tired…sleepy…hot…tired…move…tired...hot…_

Onua knew she had to do something or he'd just fall over right there. The heat seemed to have sapped his volition. Quickly, she made a decision.

Gaga was still standing there, almost devoid of will, when he felt something grasp his shoulders. Onua leaned her forehead against the knapsack on his back and pushed slightly with her her hands on his shoulders, saying, "Put your right foot before you." Gaga did so, simply obeying what the voice said. "Put your left foot before you." Again, he obeyed. "Put your right foot before you." This continued until they reached the other side.

Once they were off the bridge, Onua pushed him slightly harder, and he sat down abruptly. She slipped her knapsack off, and rummaged through it for her canteen. When she found it, she twisted the cap off and splashed some in his face. He blinked and spluttered, then became aware of his surroundings, finally awake again. "There now, that wasn't so bad! It could have been much worse." He looked at Onua, realizing what had happened. "Thank you, Onua-san; I couldn't have crossed that on my own. I would have just stood there and shriveled up like a raisin if it weren't for you."

"Don't worry about it! You'd have done the same for me if our positions had been reversed. Now how are you doing, do you want to rest here for awhile? Or do you want to go on immediately?"

"I'm just fine, if I drink some of my water, I'll be ready to go."

"Then let's move on to the next challenge!"

As they stood and went out the tunnel on this side of the chasm, Gaga thought, _I hope they're all as easy as that one, but somehow I doubt it. I have the feeling that they'll just get harder and more dangerous the further we go. _


	18. Chapter 18

Luna Mountain, Past the First Challenge: Fire

Onua walked in front, with Gaga slightly behind. Gaga was watching Onua to see how she was doing. She seemed unfazed by the last challenge, walking in such a way that her skirt swished merrily. She wore an interesting outfit for this quest; it was a practical one, as well as being pretty. She wore a pair of black slacks which fit her shapely legs well, flaring out below the calf prettily. Her top was a green, _gi_-type shirt, though longer than usual, and closely fitted to her curves. It was belted with a soft, black leather belt, through which was thrust her shukusen. It also flared at the elbows, drawing attention to her graceful hands, and the hem was long enough to be a short, flaring skirt, which swished as she walked. On her feet were soft-soled slipper-type shoes, the same brilliant green as her shirt and eyes.

Gaga caught himself again; he had to stop doing that! It wasn't polite to stare. He decided to make conversation. "Onua-san, do you know why your father needs the water? True, it's useful, but is there anything specific?"

"I don't know. Papa wouldn't have sent us if he didn't think it was important, but he didn't tell me the reason, and we didn't ask before we left."

"Oh, I see. Perhaps he'll tell us when we return." Gaga had already forgiven him for their fight earlier.

"I hope so."

By this time they had gone quite a ways. The passageway narrowed uncomfortably for a while, and then abruptly widened until ten people could have walked down it, side by side. This stretch of tunnel lasted a fair distance, but they were a mere five paces into it when there was a rumbling, and it collapsed behind them, blocking their exit. They turned, shocked, and looked around to see what had caused the collapse. Once they realized that they couldn't get out the way they had come, they began backing slowly down the passage, watching to see that it didn't collapse again. As they backed down the tunnel, the rumbling began again, this time from the direction they were going. The passage began shaking. _This must be the challenge of Earth!_ thought Gaga, as he turned around. The tunnel shook harder, and rocks began dropping from the ceiling all around them. "Onua-san, look out!" Gaga cried, as the rocks began falling thicker. And then the ceiling dropped.

When the rumbling stopped and the dust settled, the passageway was filled with debris. Gaga slowly raised his head from the floor, where he had instinctively huddled to protect himself. He stood, and pebbles and dust fell off his back to the ground. "Onua-san?" He looked around, and couldn't see her. _Where is she?_ He moved toward where he thought she'd been when the ceiling fell.

As he moved around a particularly large boulder, he saw her. She lay on her back, half-buried by the rock-fall. "Onua-san!" He rushed to her side, thinking, _don't be dead, please, please, please don't be dead!_ He held his hand above her mouth and was relieved to feel her warm breath on his palm, even if it was just barely there. He allowed himself a few seconds to just sit there, and then began frantically removing the rocks from on top of her. When she was free, he held his hand above her mouth again, and was shocked to find that her breathing was dangerously shallow.

_What's wrong? Why isn't she breathing easier now that the rocks are off her?_ He couldn't understand it. And then he remembered, _Onua wears a steel-ribbed corset! One of the falling rocks must have dented it, and it's making it hard for her to breath! At this rate, she'll die! I can't let that happen! But how do I fix it? I'll have to remove her corset, but…that means I'd have to open her shirt…No! Bad thought, bad thought! But… there's no other way… What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do?_ He wrung his hands and wrangled with himself for a while, and then decided. _I can't just let her suffocate. I'll have to do it. Forgive me Onua-san!_

He quickly undid her belt, and folded back her shirt to see her corset. Just as he had thought, there was a large dent in the middle, just below her ribs, stopping her breath. He realized that there was no time to figure out how to unfasten it, so he did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed her shukusen and used it to cut the ties in the front, then quickly turned it sideways and slipped it off her, pushing it aside. As soon as it was off, she gasped, and began breathing normally again.

Onua's eyes fluttered open, and she looked up to see Gaga leaning over her, looking utterly relieved. She blinked, and looked down at herself, to see her shirt open, and only a bra covering her. "What's going on Gaga?"

Immediately he turned bright scarlet and jumped up, backing away from her. "Onua-san, Ah, um, er… the rocks fell on you and dented your corset and you were barely breathing and I had to take it off you but I didn't want to but it was the only thing I could think of to do so I did but then I had to open your shirt to take it off and, and, and…I'm so sorry! I am so, so, so sorry!" He was wringing his hands, flustered and almost hyperventilating from embarrassment.

Onua stood up as he was saying all this and fixed her shirt, belting it again and slipping her shukusen back where it belonged on her right hip. When she was finished she just looked at him, waiting for him to be done. He fluttered his hands about frantically as he chattered on seemingly forever without stopping for a breath, and then finished with, "…You may slap me if you like." He stood at absolute attention, eyes closed, prepared for what was coming.

Onua looked at him for a few seconds, and then said, "Very well, here's your…punishment." Her hands reached towards his neck as she came closer, and then…smooch! She held his shoulders as she gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Wha-wha-what?" Gaga stuttered. He hadn't been expecting that!

"You saved my life by taking my corset off, Gaga. I think that's worth a peck and a peek. Especially since you weren't trying for either."

"But…but…"

"Don't argue, unless you _want_ me to be mad at you?"

"Of course not!"

"Then let's drop it, and figure out what to do next."

"Oh, yes…"


	19. Chapter 19

Luna Mountain, Past the Second Challenge: Earth

**Notes: Just as a warning, there is a completely unintentional spoofage of Captain Planet in the challenges. My sister was kind enough to point it out to me, and also kind enough to not laugh when I told her I had to keep it the way it was for the sake of the story. I tried my best to make it seem less Captain Planet-ey, but I'm not sure if it worked. For those of you who didn't notice, the challenges are 'fire, water, wind, earth, and heart.' A cheesy CP reference, no? No. Actually, I was mooching off of the Incarnations of Immortality series, with the elements as 'fire, water, wind, earth, and void.' I couldn't think of a way to incorporate void really well, and this idea in my head for 'heart' was just screaming at me. I mean, come on, it's a _romance_; there's gotta be a test of 'heart!' Anyway, end notes for now.**

Gaga and Onua looked down the passageway, or what was left of it, at least. The cave-in hadn't left much room for maneuvering. Gaga moved forward, looking at the blockage, trying to figure out if they could get around it somehow, or even shift it enough to get through. He didn't even think about going back anymore; there was no reason to, they had survived two challenges, he was sure they could handle the rest.

As he inspected the rock fall, Onua moved to the sides, trying to see if they could squeeze by. After a few minutes, she called, "Gaga-san, could you come here for a second? I think I might have found a way through, but I'll need your help to make sure."

"Oh? What did you find?" He came over to where she was, and looked to where she pointed. High in the wall there was a hole where some of the stones had been torn from it. It wasn't a very large hole, but it was big enough for them to crawl through, if it went all the way through. "That could work, but how do you expect to get to it? I can just barely reach it at full stretch, and I doubt I can lift myself up there."

"I thought about that. If I kneel on your shoulders, I'll be able to reach it, and crawl through. If there's a way to turn around, I can help lift you up."

"Oh. Well then, let's try it."

Gaga knelt on the floor, and Onua boosted herself into a kneeling position on his shoulders (with surprising grace, as it's hard to clamber onto someone's shoulders without falling off, let alone gracefully.) Once she was settled, he stood carefully and moved to stand directly under the hole in the wall. As he did so, Onua shifted a bit. "This won't work; I can't move well enough kneeling. I'll have to stand up before I try to get in the hole."

Gaga said nothing, trying to ignore the fact that she was practically sitting on his head. It wasn't very comfortable, as her shins dug into his shoulders rather painfully. He tried not to sigh with relief as she stood. Her feet had much more give to them, and weren't quite so agonizing. She bent over and crawled into the hole, taking her weight off his shoulders. He rubbed them, surprised at how much easier that had been than he'd thought it would be. Either Onua didn't weigh as much as he'd thought, or he was stronger than he'd thought. _She's probably just light._ He thought.

"Gaga-san, there's a small cavern almost immediately through here. I'll help you up, okay?"

Gaga snapped back to reality. "Oh, yes, of course."

He looked up to see her leaning over the edge, waiting. He reached up and caught the edge, hauling himself up with almost no help from Onua. _Maybe I'm stronger as well… I am a much younger human…_

Onua backed up and he crawled forward. In a second he stood up in the cavern she had mentioned. Another tunnel led off of it, and they followed it for a while in silence. That was when Gaga realized how surprisingly bright it was in here. Most caves are to dark to navigate without a lantern, but they'd had no trouble seeing. He looked at the walls more closely and realized that they were covered with a very thin film of fluorescent moss, not in the usual green, but in a yellow sandstone color that matched the rocks they covered well. _Interesting…_

He was so absorbed in this that he walked straight into Onua, who had stopped suddenly. "Oh, I beg your pardon, Onua-san." he apologized, and then looked to see why she had stopped. A few meters away, the floor sloped sharply downward. "Perhaps the tunnel goes back down to the level of the one we just left?" he said, answering Onua's unspoken inquiry.

"Perhaps. That does make sense."

They continued down the passage, and it leveled off near the same level as the tunnel they had left, just as Gaga had predicted. The floor grew sandy, and the moss on the walls lightened to match it. After a few more minutes of walking, they saw that the tunnel widened suddenly into a huge cavern ahead. Gaga also noticed a rushing noise that had been growing steadily as they walked. When they neared the room, He realized that it was the rushing of wind, as it howled around the room in a circular motion, never ceasing, never weakening. The room had sand all around the edges, where it had been ground from the floor and flung by the winds. _The challenge of wind_ thought Gaga. _This doesn't look dangerous, just difficult._

Onua reached forward into the room, and immediately pulled her hand back with a yelp. "Ouch! That stings! I don't think we can get through this room as it is now, Gaga."

"You're right." He said, touching the wind himself, which practically formed a wall. "We'd be flung back out of here in a trice." He looked around, to see if there was a way to stop the wind. All he found was a small doll, a little drummer-boy type figure, with a wind-up key. He picked it up. "I wonder if one of the previous challengers left this here. How very careless." Out of curiosity, he wound it up and released it. It began drumming a lively tempo. "How interesting, it still works! It can't have been here for more than a few years, or the sand would have clogged its gears."

Onua was paying attention too something else. "Wind it again, Gaga-san!"

"What? Oh, all right." He did so, and let it drum.

"I thought so! Listen to the wind when it drums!"

Gaga did so, and frowned. "What wind?"

"Exactly! When the doll drums, the wind dies!"

Gaga groaned, "Oh joy, a challenge with a sense of humor. Doll drums—Doldrums. What a horrible pun."

"Who cares if it's a horrible pun? It'll get us through! Now wind it again!"

Gaga wound the doll, and as soon as he released it, the wind died down, and they ran quickly across the room. The doll stopped drumming, the wind came back, and everything went back to normal.

"Well." said Gaga. "That was anticlimactic."

"Don't complain. Do you _want_ them to be hard?"

"Who's complaining? I'm very grateful that it was easy, just surprised."

"That's all right then. Now, onward!"


	20. Chapter 20

Luna Mountain, Past the Third Challenge: Wind

Gaga and Onua had left the cavern with the challenge of wind behind a few hours ago. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, always following an odd pattern. At first it had moved straight forward for half an hour, and then it had turned right abruptly. Since then it had continued to curve gradually rightward; it also had an upward grade so slight that they barely noticed it.

They had taken a break for a late lunch, and had then continued onward. They talked, really talked, for the first time since they had started on this quest. They discussed all manner of things, such as why the Gypsies moved around so much, how Onua's parents had gotten together, and why Niko had such an odd collection of swords and other bladed weapons. Gaga told Onua about his duties as Princess Grenda's steward, and many of the adventures he had accompanied her on while she was still a Platinum Princess Candidate. He spoke of the odd curse that had been laid on her and the other four girls, so that they never aged past ten, and how it had been broken by the previous Platinum Princess, from the Magic World which was now gone forever.

And they kept on walking, and they kept on talking, for hour after hour. They stopped for dinner and then continued on. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the tunnel changed again. It turned sharply rightward, and tilted upward noticeably. After another half hour or so, they realized that it had gotten colder. The moss had changed color to a soft, deep, velvety blue that let off just barely enough light to see their way by. They stopped talking, sensing that something truly important was coming up. They walked noiselessly, their feet making absolutely no sound on the thick carpet of soft blue moss.

Finally, they reached a cavern. And what a cavern it was! It was immense, with a high, vaulted ceiling like a cathedral. It was perfectly round, and the walls had half-columns spaced evenly around the perimeter. In the precise center of the room the floor dipped gently to the edges of a faultlessly circular pool. A pool whose water was so pure and still that it shone like glass, without flaw. As they watched the pool, the moon outside Luna Mountain rose higher, until its light poured down through the small opening in the peak of the mountain. The moonlight reflected off of the polished, mirror-like stones at each bend of the long, spiraling, complicated way downward into the center of the mountain. Reflecting off of the final flat, polished stone, it struck the water in the pool, and was magnified so that the water itself seemed to be made of moonlight.

Gaga and Onua simply stared in awe. The room, and the pool, had such a quiet majesty that neither of them dared to speak. It was so ancient, so mysterious, and so profoundly _magical_ that it was filled them with a kind of holy wonder. Gaga, in his entire over 1000 years, had never seen anything so marvelously, breathtakingly, solemnly beautiful. Onua, despite how far she had traveled in her twenty-five years of life, had never seen anything that came close to comparing to the ancient dignity and magnificence of this place.

They simply stood there for a good half hour, just drinking it all in. Then Onua's innate practicality finally took over. "Well," she said, "I think this is the place."

Gaga, startled by her voice, stopped staring at the Mére of the Moon (for that's what it was), and replied. "I think you're right, Onua-san. But…what do we do here?"

"Mother gave me an extra, empty large canteen to collect the water in. I think I'll start by doing that."

"Oh! Of course you're right."

They walked to the edge of the pool, and knelt there. As Gaga looked at the pool, he realized that it was extremely deep. With its extreme purity and the moonlight, he could see the bottom, but it was so far down that he didn't want to think about it. Onua quickly took out her large canteen and unscrewed the cap. She filled it with the water and screwed the cap back on carefully, then set it aside. Looking over at Gaga, who was still leaning over, looking into the pool. She murmured quietly to herself, "I wonder…"

She grinned mischievously to herself, and then, setting the canteen full of water aside carefully, she crept up behind him and…pushed. _Splash!_ Gaga floundered for a few seconds, coughing and sputtering, before he managed to grab onto the side of the Mére. He hung there, panting, for a minute before looking up into Onua's merrily laughing eyes. "What was that for?" he asked her, confused.

"You looked like you needed to loosen up!"

"What? That's silly! Besides, what if I didn't know how to swim?"

"But you do. You told me yourself earlier. Besides…" she leaned down very close to him, so that their noses were almost touching. "…there was something that I wanted to confirm."

Gaga's heart skipped a beat. "What?"

She leaned back again, freeing him from her eyes. "That the water from the pool can't turn you back into a demon. Sadly, it looks like I was right, and it can't." She helped him out of the Mére.

"You don't look that sad." he commented.

"True. I'm not, really. I suppose I'm a bit selfish, but once you become a demon again you'll go back to working as Grenda-chan's steward. I'd rather have you all to myself."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that we can't see each other again. Surely your caravan will stay for a while longer."

"No. Part of the reason we had to do this now is because we're planning to leave the day after the festival. If you were still human then, Papa was planning on asking you to join our caravan in its travels, until a cure could be found."

"Oh, I-I'm touched." Gaga hadn't really thought about what would happen when the caravan left. He'd just…assumed that he would be returned to normal by then.

"So, really, I'm glad you haven't changed back. Even if it's selfish of me, I would miss you when you were gone."

"Thank you, Onua-san, I'd miss you too." At this point, Gaga wasn't even sure if he wanted to change back.

"Well, on that note, let's turn in."

"Huh?" Gaga was confused by the turn in the conversation.

"It's very late, if the moon can shine through. Also, I'm exhausted from all that we've done today. We should sleep, and make our way out tomorrow."

"Oh, of course. But why were there only three challenges on the way in? There should have been five." They moved away from the water, and began taking out the blankets and sleeping clothes that Niobe had packed for them.

"Hmm. I don't know. I expect that the other two will be on the way out. We've had fire, earth, and wind, in that order. That leaves water and void."

"Or heart, depending on how you look at it."

"True. I wonder what those challenges will be like."

"There's no use speculating, we'll find out when we try to leave tomorrow."

The bases of the columns pushed out roundly, and the thick moss which covered them made them ideal low seats or pillows. Onua and Gaga laid out their blankets near them, and close enough together to be safe. Gaga made quite sure that they were about arms-length apart, though. He didn't want any accidents. _Kicking your traveling companion in your sleep is not a good way to get along with her._

"Turn around."

"Huh?" Gaga was startled by the unexpected request.

"Turn around. I need to change into my bed clothes."

"Oh. Oh, yes, of course!" Gaga turned around hastily. In a surprisingly short amount of time, Onua finished changing.

"Okay, your turn, Gaga-san. And I think you should towel off before you put them on. And lay out your clothes to dry. It won't hurt the moss." Gaga obeyed, and then he crawled into bed.

"Good-night, Onua-san."

"Good-night, Gaga-san."

They were asleep before they knew it.


	21. Chapter 21

Luna Mountain, The Mére of the Moon, Day Two, Morning

Gaga awoke to a bright morning. The sun's light shone down through the ceiling, reflecting off of the stones until it came to the pool. However, instead of entering the pool, the sunlight reflected off of it, illuminating the whole room.

As he sat up, looked over at Onua and saw that she was still sleeping. _She must have been exhausted after everything that happened yesterday._ He quickly got up and got dressed, glad that his clothes had dried out from the dunking he'd gotten the night before.

Once he finished, he knelt next to Onua, planning on waking her up. As he looked down at her he thought… _she looks so peaceful when she's asleep._ Unthinking, he reached out to brush a stray hair from her face. He caught himself right afterwards, and shaking his head at his folly, he gently shook her awake. "Onua-san, wake up. It's morning."

She stirred and stretched, "Good morning, Gaga-san! Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I slept very well, thank you." He left her side and began preparing breakfast from the supplies Niobe had given them, making sure to be facing away from Onua. She got dressed quickly, and sat next to him as they ate in a companionable silence.

Once they had finished and cleaned up, Gaga said, "Where do we go now, Onua-san? We can't go back the way we came."

"If we could, then we wouldn't have to got through the last two challenges, would we? So we can't. We have to go forward. Look there. On the other side of the Mére there's another tunnel."

"I see. We'll go out through that one, and hope the challenges aren't too dangerous."

"Exactly. Let's go."

They gathered up all of their belongings and packed them neatly away in their bags, and then set off through the far tunnel.

After about an hour and a half of walking, in which the tunnel meandered all over the place, twisting, turning and doubling back on itself, they came to another cave. This one was by no means as nice as the one with the Mére. It was irregular and had largish stones sticking up from the floor at random. At the other end, and slightly to the side, was a door. _A door?_ Thought Gaga, _There must be a challenge on the other side. But why is there a door? All of the other challenges seemed to be part of the natural landscape, but this…_ As he was thinking, they walked to the door. When Onua touched it, she froze, not moving at all.

"Onua-san?" Gaga tapped her on the shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

She slowly turned her head to look back at him over her left shoulder. When their eyes met, he pulled back, startled. Her eyes had changed. They were empty, and they seemed to pull him in, to try to drown him in their depths. But at the same time they were full to overflowing with something he couldn't describe, something that frightened him. She turned the rest of the way around, and he took a step backwards, unsure. He couldn't tear himself away from her eyes; as much as they frightened him, he couldn't look away.

She walked toward him, and he backed away slowly, until he tripped backwards over a rock. He fell to the floor with a thud and scuttled backwards on his backside, still trying to flee what he saw in her eyes, still incapable of breaking eye contact. She followed him, moving toward him on all fours now, as he ran out of room to back away. With his back against the wall, he waited for whatever it was that she meant to do.

She approached him on all fours, moving up his stretched-out legs towards his body. When she reached him, her eyes mere inches from his, he shut his suddenly, too frightened of what he saw in hers, though he still wasn't sure of what it was. She sat back on her heels, and caught hold of his shoulders with her hands. And then she leaned towards him.

His eyes flew open again as her lips pressed against his, and at his sides, his fists clenched, and then slowly loosened. She pulled back for a second, and then returned, deepening the kiss, as her hands slowly slid forward, towards his collar. His heart beat faster and faster, and his breathing sped up, and his brain seemed to be on fire. And then his jacket was gone, and she was unbuttoning the shirt underneath it, and his hands held her at the waist, and then her hands slid downward to his belt as his slid up along her sides, and then… "NO!"

He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away, holding her away from himself. He let his head hang downward, unable to look at her. "We…we can't. You're too wonderful of a person for this. You are my best friend's daughter and my very good friend yourself. You are the daughter of the gypsy caravan's boss, and I am just the servant of the Princess of Hell. You are a young, vibrant, beautiful human woman, and I am an old demon in a young human's body. It's…not right. We can't do this. I can't let us do this. I can't…won't…let myself take advantage of whatever spell you're under. Because…because I…I love you." There. He'd said it. He'd admitted that he was in love with her; hopelessly, deeply, wildly in love with her, with this beautiful, wonderful, intelligent, kind, practical woman.

"Oh, so does that mean that if you didn't love me, you would be able to?"

"What?" Gaga looked up, startled, to see that Onua's eyes were normal again. They were no longer empty; they sparkled with delight and amusement, amusement at him. He realized what she'd said. "Oh, no, no, of course not, Onua-san! I mean, if I didn't love you, it wouldn't be so hard to resist you, and…"

Onua laughed. "I'm teasing you, Gaga-san! I knew what you meant."

Gaga relaxed and released her shoulders; it looked like she was fine.

"And by the way, Gaga-san…" Onua smiled at him, her eyes full of gratitude. "Thank you."


	22. Chapter 22

Ch. 22

Luna Mountain, Past the Fourth Challenge: Heart/Void/Chaos

"There's nothing to thank me for. I almost didn't stop myself." Gaga shook his head seriously, and began tucking his shirt back in.

"But you did, and that's what counts."

"I'm not sure I could have, if I hadn't known you were under a love spell."

"Gaga…" Onua caught his arm, stopping him from putting his jacket back on. "…that wasn't a love spell."

"What? But it had to be, that's not something you would have done normally!"

"True, but it wasn't a love spell. A love spell can't be broken by a confession of love; that would be silly!"

"But…what was it then?"  
"A spell of release."

"Release?"

"That's right. Release from restraint."

"From…restraint?"

"Are you going to repeat everything I say?"

"What? Oh, no, my apologies, Onua-san."

"Good. Now then. Restraint is what keeps us from doing whatever pops into our heads at any given time. It prevents us from offending others, and from embarrassing ourselves. When you lack restraint, there's nothing holding you back from attacking your most immediate desire. A spell for releasing restraint doesn't create false emotions or desires; it merely causes you to act on them."

"So, when you were…"

"When I was coming onto you, I really did want that." She released his arm.

"But, but…"

"But that's not all. The reason you could break the spell was because you gave me something that I desired even more, though I didn't realize it at the time. You told me you loved me."

"But if you wanted to hear me say that…"

"It means that I was in love with you too? Absolutely. I love you, and I'm in love with you, Gaga-san."

"What's the difference? Between loving and being in love with, I mean."

Well, it's quite possible to love someone, yet not be in love with them. Like siblings or friends. Romance is the only time you do both." She stood and got ready to go.

"Oh."

"So that's why the spell broke. Now, let's continue this quest. After this, we've got nothing to worry about."

"What do you mean, Onua-san? There's still one challenge left." Gaga stood as well and finished getting fixed up.

"We've had four challenges so far. Fire, Earth, Wind, and this one, Heart (or void or chaos). That leaves Water as the only remaining challenge. And after all…"

She smiled back at him over her shoulder. "'Many waters cannot quench love, nor can floods drown it.'"

Gaga just stared at her for a second, and then, when she moved towards the door again, he darted forward to stop her. "Wait, Onua-san!"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"If you touch the door again, won't you become respelled?"

"I don't think so; it was probably a one-shot spell. Now that you broke it, it won't happen again. Also, it's probably safer for me to do it anyway."

"But…"

"Because even if it does get me, we know you can handle me when I'm like that, so there's no problem. But what would have happened if it had been you?"

Gaga thought about it, and decided that he didn't want to think about it. "Go ahead, Onua-san."

She smiled, and opened the door. "See? Nothing happened."

Gaga breathed a sigh of relief, and followed her through. They continued walking, and the tunnel continued wandering, for another half hour. The whole time, Gaga fought with himself, trying _not_ to pay attention to Onua, to the feelings and sensations and desires that their ordeal had awakened in him. Over and over he caught his mind wandering back to the incident, and to how much he'd wanted to just let it go on. He knew he'd done the right thing, and he had no doubts about how much he'd have hated himself if he'd let it continue. But at the same time that he recognized this, he also realized he hadn't wanted it to stop, and he disliked himself for that.

Then they reached an intersection. The tunnel they were in ended where another tunnel crossed it; they could go either left or right, and there were no indications of which way was best. Gaga moved forward to stand beside Onua, looking down each half of the way. "Which direction should we go Onua-san, left or right?"

"Let me see…we're probably at about the same level as the Mére, so…the tunnel to the right slopes downward. If we want to get back to ground level, we should go that way."

"That makes sense. It would be a good idea to get as close to the ground as possible before exiting the mountain." They began walking, and as they did, Gaga slowly began to relax again. Onua looked at him and said, "Have you noticed that you always seem to agree with my decisions?

"Probably because your decisions always seem to be the right ones."

"Not always, but mostly, yes. I'm not trying to brag, you know."

"I know. You're not the bragging type. With how much you hate flattery, you're not likely to flatter yourself."

"True. Though really, it's not that I hate compliments, I just hate it when compliments are given to the undeserving, even if it's me."

"It's hard to think of a compliment that you wouldn't deserve, especially a compliment to your looks. When I first met you, I thought that you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen." He smiled at her, and then caught himself, grinning awkwardly. "Oh, sorry, looks like I'm making the mistake of flattering you!"

"And how about now?"

"Huh?"

"What do you think of me now?"

"I…" Gaga wasn't sure of how to answer that. He decided to simply state his thoughts honestly, and hope that she wouldn't be angry with him. "I still think that you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. And not just on the outside. You're intelligent, clever, honest, discerning, kind, practical, and sincere; you're the perfect mixture of pragmatism and spontaneity. If I could describe you in just a few words, I would say that, to me anyway, you're the ideal woman. You delight me with your very presence. When I'm with you, I think that…I wouldn't mind staying human forever, if I could just stay with you. I think…" He paused, "…I'm glad to know you. I'm better for having known you, I want to always know you, I want to never say goodbye."

He turned away, blushing furiously. Onua stared at him for a few seconds, and then spoke softly. "Wow…Gaga-san… that has to be the sweetest, most wonderful thing that anyone's ever said to me." The back of his neck flushed red. "And you know…for an over-1000-yer-old demon in human form, you're incredibly romantic. I do believe that you meant it."

He spun around immediately to face her. "Of course I meant it! You aren't the only one who dislikes false praise!"

Onua smiled up at him. "Then we're well suited for each other, don't you think?" She didn't give him a chance to answer, instead turning and half walking, half skipping down the passage. Gaga followed immediately.

**NOTES: I know…weak ending to this chapter, and no new challenge. Get over it. I will now tell you about the last challenge. I got the idea for a restraint release spell from a monster from xxxHolic. The lack of restraint accounts for the 'void' in the challenge. The resulting confusion was the 'chaos.' And it was obviously quite testing to the heart. Originally, I was going to get into it a bit more, but I like how it turned out, much more and it woulda been hentai, which I refuse ever to do. This is about as close as I'll ever get. This chapter was a really good one to, I think. Gaga finally stopped dodging around his feelings for Onua and explored them. Oh, and about his oh-so-incredibly-romantic lines…I mooched them. I read this webcomic called Lint, which is just awesome, and those were like, the coolest romance lines I have EVER read, so I had to use them. Sorry, Lint!**


	23. Chapter 23

Luna Mountain, Last Challenge: Water

Gaga distracted himself from the recent conversation by trying to figure out where exactly they were in the mountain. He drew a mental picture of the mountain in his head, and began tracing their route through it. He realized that although they had traveled a great distance over the past two days, they hadn't really gone anywhere. They had gone straight through the mountain, and then followed its perimeter, slowly spiraling upwards, so that they passed over their previous track, and all the way around. Then, they'd gone straight to the center of the mountain, in a tunnel above and parallel to their first rout, but in the opposite direction. Crossing directly through the center, they'd followed a torturous path, so that currently, they were headed towards the place where the entrance was, though far above it. They would probably also come out several meters to the side. He tried to remember what was there, but couldn't.

As they walked, Onua looked back at Gaga, smiling to herself at the contemplative look on his face. He was amusingly innocent. Not naive, per say; he understood the implications of the situations they had gotten into. But he seemed…inexperienced; he was far to worried about her feelings to be a veteran in the game of love. Her expression turned thoughtful. "Gaga-san?"

"Yes, Onua-san?"

"Was that the first time you ever made out?"

"What! What kind of question is that?" Gaga immediately turned red again.

Onua relented. "You don't have to answer. I shouldn't have asked; it's none of my business."

Gaga hesitated, and then said, "…yes."

"Hmm?"

"Yes, that was my first real kiss. I-I've never…had a…girlfriend before." He looked down, embarrassed. "Not…not that you're really my girlfriend or anything…"

"Oh, I don't know. I might be." She grinned flirtatiously at him. "If properly asked."

Gaga was flustered; did she want him to ask her? Was she just teasing him again? And most importantly, SHOULD he even ask her? He hesitated, almost speaking, until he felt the floor tremble underfoot. _Another cave-in?_ He looked back along their route they had taken, ready to grab Onua and run. The trembling grew, and with it they heard a rumbling, which escalated, until it became a roar. Gaga spun around, and taking Onua by the arm, began running down the passageway, hauling her after him.

"Gaga-san, what…?" Onua took one look back and began running with him. Coming down the passage behind them was a wall of water. Somewhere deep inside the mountain an underground river had broken loose, and had gone rushing and gushing down the passage towards the two. Gaga looked back, and wrapped his arms around Onua to protect her just before the surge washed over them.

They held their breaths as they tumbled and spun down the passage, eyes closed. Gaga held Onua protectively close as they were forcefully propelled towards their unknown destination like chaff. Surfacing for a few brief seconds, they looked around frantically for something to grab on to. The light increased, and as Gaga looked toward the source, he realized that they were nearing the outside. He nearly panicked at that. If they were as high up as he thought, when they left the mountain they'd be flung from a deadly height. There was no way they'd survive unless they managed to stop themselves from being flung off.

Gaga released Onua from his arms and had her grab hold of his waist. He then began swimming towards the right side of the passage, hoping to find something to grab onto. He had just reached the wall when they were swept outside. He lunged for the side of the flow and managed to catch hold of a sapling that grew on the side of the mountain. He slowly managed to haul himself up onto the bank next to the tree, but no sooner had he managed to get up there than Onua lost her grip on him.

Moving instinctively, quicker than thought, Gaga grabbed onto the tree with one hand and Onua's wrist with the other. He looked at her and saw that she was unconscious. _Something must have been carried along by the water and hit her on the head. That flow is enough to move small boulders. _The flow increased, threatening to rip her from his grasp. He gritted his teeth and held on, trying to pull her from the water without success. The water pulled harder and harder, and his hold was starting to slip.

"…_I'm glad to know you. I'm better for having known you, I want to always know you, I want to never say goodbye." _If he let go, if he lost his hold, he wouldn't get the _chance_ to say goodbye, and he'd never get to see her smile again. This was the last challenge, water, which meant that there had to be a way. There _had_ to, didn't there? But…his arms were getting tired, weakening under the relentless tugging of the current. His hand slipped a bit more.

"'_Many waters cannot quench love, nor can floods drown it.'"_

_No! I will NOT lose her! I CANNOT lose her, I couldn't bear it._

"'_Many waters cannot quench love, nor can floods drown it.'"_

Suddenly, Gaga's loosening grip on Onua's arm tightened, as sharp claws sprouted from his fingertips and dug into her wrist. His eyes closed as he focused all of his attention on pulling her from the water, and he didn't see her eyes flicker open for an instant, and take in his changes before closing again. His bared teeth grew short, sharp fangs, and ground together with his efforts. The back of his water-soaked jacket writhed for a few seconds, and then huge, bat-like wings burst from between his shoulder blades and began pumping furiously. They beat at the air and provided just a bit more power, as with an almighty effort, he hauled Onua's unconscious form from the water.

Such was the shock of her release from the water's pull that he fell over backwards, and she landed on top of him, knocking the wind out of him. In the instant before he landed, his claws, fangs, and wings disappeared, and he was fully human again when he hit the ground.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes: I forgot to mention it, but the quote 'Many waters cannot quench love, nor can floods drown it' is from the Bible, though I don't know the reference. **

Outside Luna Mountain

Gaga simply lay there for a few minutes, panting, exhausted. Onua lay on top of him, her weight on his chest; but although her weight complicated his breathing, it was comforting as well, because it meant that she was safe. After a while, Gaga shifted her off gently, and sat up. He looked around and saw that they were on a rather wide ledge that was easily large enough for them and their belongings.

Luckily they had managed to keep their bags somehow, and the contents were intact. He took the bags and laid all of their contents out to dry. He took off his jacket and shirt and wrung them out, and then gazed forlornly at the holes in the back of the jacket. The shirt would be easily repaired, but it would be nearly impossible to sew the holes in the jacket shut without the seams showing. He sighed and put the shirt back on, it was better than nothing. He laid the jacket out to dry and looked over at where Onua lay.

She looked to be in relatively good shape, besides being unconscious and soaking wet. _Actually, she looks rather good in wet clothes…Ack!_ Gaga stopped that thought before it got any further. _I'd best check on her, if she was hit on the head, she'll need help. _He moved over to her and knelt by her side. Lifting her head from the ground, he looked for a bump, which he found just behind her left ear. It didn't look too serious, and she'd be as good as new in a few hours. _I'm glad, if she'd been seriously injured, I'd never have forgiven myself._

He took a look at her left wrist, and saw that the wounds she'd gotten when he grew claws weren't serious, but he wrapped them with bandages anyway. How _had_ he grown claws anyway? It was almost like when, as a demon, he transformed into his cat shape, except that he didn't shrink, and his body was still very much human. He'd gotten claws, fangs and wings, like his demon-cat shape, but he'd stayed almost entirely human otherwise, very strange.

He took a wet towel and folded it into a makeshift pillow and laid it under Onua's head as support. The sun was bright enough and hot enough that their clothes should dry out in less than an hour. He laid his jacket over her, and then lay back on the ledge, hands behind his head. Within a few minutes the combination of warm sun and tiredness caused him to fall asleep.

When he awoke it was a whole hour and a half later, just after noon. He sat up, wincing; he was stiff and sore from overexerting himself like that, and then not moving while he slept. He turned to see how Onua was doing and saw that she was up and looking much better. She smiled at him and said, "Good to see you awake, Gaga-san. Are you feeling okay?"

"Just a bit stiff, thank you. Are you alright, Onua-san? You had a bump on your head, is it better?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine now. However…" She stood and came towards him, and then sitting directly behind him, began rubbing his shoulders. When he winced, she said, "It looks like you're not in as good of shape as you thought. Don't worry; I'll work those knots out."

"But…"

"No buts, that's the second time you saved my life, I at least owe you a shoulder rub, and you need it."

His shoulders and neck were cramping, and his arms jittered painfully, so he couldn't really argue the point. He let her work on him, all the time aware of a feeling of guilty pleasure. Her touch was sheer delight, and soothed his cramping muscles. Her hands rubbed his shoulders and the back of his neck, moved up and down his arms, and massaged his temples, where the beginnings of a headache were forming.

As his aches eased, he finally began to relax, and let his head fall forward limply, simply basking in the pleasure of her care and company. _I wish this could last forever, and I wish…I wish that she could do this all the time, I wish that I could let her do this without my feeling so guilty. _

Her hands moved back down to his neck and stroked firmly, yet gently, massaging all his aches away. They slid upward to rub under his jaw, feeling the blood pulsing through the jugular vein, making him more aware of it. He closed his eyes and simply lost himself in her touch. Her hands dropped again, rubbing his shoulders and back, moving gently, rhythmically, soothingly, until he was only half awake, and aware of only the sensations she sent through him. Slowly, her arms slid around him, and she merely held him, as her soft breasts pushed gently against his back, and she laid her head on his shoulder, so that his cheek rested against her head.

They stayed like that for awhile, and then Gaga stirred, sighing, and gently removed her hands, turning and facing her. "Onua-san, I wish we could stay like that, I wish we could really be in a relationship like we pretended, I wish we could go even further than that, but we can't, so you need to stop putting me in positions like that, okay?" He spoke gently, sadly, but the look in his eyes begged her to understand.

Onua looked back at him, eyes just as sad, but determined to find a way. "Why? Why can't we? What is there to stop us?"

"Onua-san…It would never work. For all that I'm in a young body; I'm still old in reality."

"But that just means you have years of experience that a normal young man wouldn't. You're the figurative old head on young shoulders."

"And I'm a demon; for all that I've a human body now."

"So? I don't care. You're everything I love in a man, demon or not."

"And I'm from the serving class, while you're the gypsy equivalent of a princess."

"Gaga-san, you're the steward for the Princess of Hell, that's got to be at least as good as being the daughter of a gypsy caravan boss, at least in the eyes of most people." She was starting to become amused, while he seemed annoyed at her. He _knew_ it couldn't work, he knew it and yet…all the reasons it couldn't were being neatly countered by her. As much as he wanted it to work, he didn't want to get his hopes up, when he was sure they'd be dashed.

"But… what about your father? Do you honestly believe that Niko would approve?"

Onua thought about it, and then replied, "Yes…yes, I do. I think that Papa would be delighted that his best friend was courting his daughter, regardless of the things you said before. And I think Mama would approve as well."

Despite himself, Gaga was beginning to hope, and then he had one devastating thought. "Princess Grenda would never allow it."

"Princess Grenda has no jurisdiction over your personal life, and even if she did, I doubt she'd stop you. She's much nicer than she likes to pretend."

"But, but…"

"I know you've known her for far longer than I have, but you never know until you try."

As Gaga thought about that, Onua stood and packed their belongings back into their bags, since everything had dried out by now. "Now then, we should start on our way home. Can you help me figure out how to get down from here?"


	25. Chapter 25

On a Ledge, Outside Luna Mountain

Gaga and Onua had spent the better part of half an hour looking for a way off of the ledge, and down the side of the mountain. Onua stood from where she'd been looking over the edge, and stated, "It looks like the only way to get down safely is to climb down from the edge furthest from the falls. We've enough rope that we should be able to reach the ground with it, if we're careful."

Gaga took the rope out of his bag, and tossed one end over the side, testing the reach. It fell about half a meter short of the ground, but that was no problem. He tied his end to a boulder that didn't look like it would budge, and tested its hold. It seemed to be holding firm. "I'll go down first, since I weigh more. If it holds my weight, I'm sure it'll hold yours."

Putting his bag on his back, he swung over the cliff's edge and began moving downward hand-over-hand. When he reached the ground about thirty meters below, he tugged the rope to let Onua know that he was done. No sooner had he done so then she swung over the edge and started down herself. He caught her at the bottom, and set her down neatly on her feet. "What do we do about the rope?" He asked her.

"Hmm… We can't just leave it there…" Onua was considering when the taut rope suddenly slackened, then fell down to land at their feet, as though someone had untied it. They looked up, astonished, but didn't see anyone. "Perhaps that's the mountains way of saying goodbye?" suggested Gaga.

"Perhaps." Onua replied, but she looked skeptical, and then she shrugged. "…Oh well, at least we got the rope back." She coiled it neatly, and then put it back in Gaga's bag. After looking at the majestic mountain, they waved farewell and set off for the gypsy caravan.

After they had gone about halfway, a trek of approximately an hour, Onua decided to change the subject, which up to this point had been possible uses for the water. "Gaga-san, when you were pulling me out of the water, I felt a sharp pain, and for a second there I woke up, and I could have sworn you had wings."

"I did. I don't know how or why it happened, but when I thought about losing you, I sprouted wings, claws, and fangs. It was very odd. They reminded me of my cat shape, but they were far larger than they should have been."

"That is odd. I don't know why that happened, but it's a good thing it did. Perhaps the reason they were so large is because you were so much larger than your usual cat shape."

"I suppose so."

"What was it like being a demon cat?"

"Much different from being human. As a human, I see more color in the world, but I can't see moving things as well. Also, I can't fly as a human. It's rather frustrating. There are good points though."

"Like what?"

"Well, for one thing, I feel more alive and aware as a human than I ever did as a demon. Also…If I was still a demon, I'd have had no chance of getting to know you and the rest of your gypsy clan the way I have, and that I would surely have missed." Onua grinned at that.


	26. Chapter 26

A Few Minutes From The Gypsy Caravan

As they walked the last part of the way to the caravan, Gaga fell silent, contemplating the conversation they'd had back on the ledge. _It's true that I have many years of experience, but all of that was in serving Hell's royal family. And while that experience is useful during for understanding the protocol in negotiations and politics, it's probably useless in any other case. If I were to stay with Onua-san, all of my years of experience would be worthless. But…I'm stuck as a human anyway. Whether I'm with Onua-san or not, that experience will make no difference, I'll still have to learn how to be human. Perhaps that means that if I want to be with Onua-san, it's alright? _

_But…I'm a demon! Even if I'm in a human body, my essence is demonic in nature. Can a human-demon romance even work? Are children even possible? Does it even matter? Onua-san said she didn't care that I'm a demon, and I don't have a problem with her being human, but if we can't have children, I'm not sure it would be a viable relationship …and Niko would lose his only chance at grandchildren. But if children are possible, then there's no reason that a demon-human romance couldn't work…_

That was two arguments against it down. He'd have to ask Niko about the children though. There still remained the matter of social status however. _No matter what, I'm serving class, and she's not. Though, in most places it would seem that gypsies are considered even below the serving class. Common gypsies anyway. Would that put Onua, as gypsy nobility, on the same level as me, a higher-level servant? If we are on about the same social level, then even if we're technically in separate classes, it won't matter. It would be like a grocer marrying a farmer, different classes, but still the same standing._

Onua was right, there really wasn't all that much holding them back. There were a few conditional terms, and the approval of their authority figures, and that was it. _Approval. How can I possibly get Princess Grenda's approval for this? Technically Onua-san is right, she has no power over my personal life, but if she were angry enough, she could fire me! I don't think she would do that, she's really a very kind girl at heart, but still, dare I take that chance? I've already established that I have no practical skills in the human world, I haven't learned a trade. If Princess Grenda fires me, I won't have a way to provide for Onua-san. _Gaga didn't notice that he'd slipped into thinking that he needed to provide for her, even though he hadn't consciously decided whether he was going to pursue the relationship or not. Or perhaps Fate had already decided that he would.

_Onua-san seems to think that Niko would approve; and Niobe-san as well. If Onua-san believes this, then I have no reason to think otherwise. That means that the only two obstacles in the way are Princess Grenda, and the possibility of children. Or rather, the possibility of their impossibility. _He smiled. _If it wasn't so serious, that would be funny._

"Gaga-san."

"Hmm?"

"We're here."

"What?" He looked up, startled. They had indeed arrived at the caravan.

"Let's go, Gaga-san! I want to see my parents!" Onua grabbed his hand and began running, pulling him along behind her. In almost no time at all they had reached the center of the caravan, where Niobe stood, just starting the dinner preparations. When she saw them she dropped what she held and turned towards them, arms open. Onua threw herself into her mother's arms, burying her face in her shoulder. After a warm hug, she released her and stood back, saying, "Mother, it's good to be back!"

"What, didn't Gaga-san keep you company?" Niobe winked at him, and he grinned, glad to be back as well.

"Of course he did! But I missed you anyway! You are my mother after all."

"True, she is. But didn't you miss me as well?" said a voice behind them, which Gaga recognized instantly.

"Niko! It's only been two days, but it seems like an eternity since we left. How fares the caravan?" asked Gaga.

"Wonderfully! We're actually ready well ahead of schedule. But enough about that, sit, and tell me all about your adventures in Luna Mountain with my daughter."

Gaga sat obediently, and as Niobe went back to her cooking, the rest of the gypsies and the five girls who were part-timing it there sat as well, eager to hear the story. Gaga began speaking, and to his own surprise, found the tale flowing out of him with surprising ease, and an even more surprising lack of embarrassment. He felt that he could tell everything without fear of reprisal, and he did so.

When he had finished, ending with their climb down the side of Luna Mountain, Niobe had finished cooking and was passing around bowls of hearty stew and small loaves of bread. Gaga took one gratefully and began to eat ravenously, as Niko mulled over their story.

"That's a very interesting story. Makes me almost wish I'd gone with you."

"It would have been helpful, and it would have spared us some embarrassing situations." Gaga pointed out.

"Hmm. True, that wouldn't have worked quite so well then."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you probably wouldn't have realized your feeling for Onua if I'd been there."

"Speaking of which, Niko…" Gaga took a deep breath, "I'd like to ask for your permission to court Onua-san."

"Granted."

Gaga was startled. "Just like that?"

"Of course! I've been waiting to hear those words for a long time now; ever since we met again nearly a month ago."

"It's about time you got up the gumption to ask him." said Grenda, who was sitting across from them.

"Princess?" Gaga was confused. "I don't understand, how did you know I was going to ask? How did you know about Onua-san and me?"

"It was kind of obvious." she stated bluntly.

"Gaga, I don't need the Sight to see how perfectly suited for each other you are." added Niko. "And I'd have to be blind, deaf, and paraplegic not to know the very depths of your love for my daughter. That's why I sent you with her. I knew I could trust you with her safety and virtue."

Gaga was uncomfortable with freely talking about Onua's virtue, but something else Niko had said caught his attention. "Sent me? As I recall, you were opposed to the idea."

"If I'd asked you right out, you'd have been far too nervous. And it wouldn't have been right for me to ask you to do something I wasn't willing to do myself."

"You…set us up? You set us up! That callous act was just that, an act! Niko!"

Niko winced at the look on Gaga's face. "Please don't be angry with me, I didn't know what else to do."


	27. Chapter 27

Gypsy Caravan, Open-Air Kitchen

"Yes, don't be angry, Gaga." said Grenda. "After all, if he hadn't tricked you, you'd have been too worried about the propriety to go. You're such a prude."

"I'm not angry, just confused…and I am not a prude!"

"Yes you are, admit it."

"Ugh!" Gaga didn't know what else to say. He tried to think of a non-offensive way to argue with her, but couldn't, so he changed the subject. "Niko? When you first arrived in town, you said that the prophecy had been 'mostly' fulfilled. What did you mean?"

Niko grinned at that. "Do you remember the last part of the prophecy? 'The girl will befriend those who stand athwart the tangled skein, and she may marry Death or she may marry Evil.' I figured that out when I met you and discovered who the girls were. To stand athwart the tangled skein is an old saying for someone who is a very important figure, and whose actions can change the course of history. If the princesses of the five major kingdoms and the five former platinum princesses don't qualify, who does? Onua became good friends with them, simply by her being who she is, and by their being who they are."

"But, what about the very end of the prophecy?"

"Well, that's what confused me for the longest time. How can someone marry Death? And then I realized that it meant the species. The five major ideas are Good, Evil, Death, Life, and Time. Each of these corresponds to one of the five major species, and also to one of the elements. Good is obviously the Angelic race, and corresponds to water. Life is the Faeries, and corresponds to wind, since most faeries seem to be rather flighty and capricious. No offence Beth-chan."

"None taken."

"Time, oddly, represents Humans. Humans change the most over time, and they don't live nearly as long as the other four races, but because of this, humans tend to be the most adaptable of peoples. We tend to do rather well when dealing with chaos. Time also corresponds to void or chaos. The void of eternity you know."

"And that leaves…"

"Death and Evil. Death is obviously the Ghosts, and they correspond to the element earth, as the most unchangeable and inevitable of elements. Evil is the Demons, unsurprisingly. And just as unsurprisingly, that corresponds to fire."

"So that means that the prophecy meant…"

"That Onua would marry either a ghost or a demon. I haven't been idle these past years. I visited the Ghostly Realm, and discretely checked every ghost there with my Sight. Not one of them matched. Not one of them showed even a flicker of potential as Onua's husband. And then I ran into you again." Niko looked at Gaga, smiling. "I didn't even think about it at first, you were just an old friend. But then I saw your reaction when you met Onua, and I decided to check."

"And?"

"And it was a perfect match. But as I said before, I didn't need the Sight to see that you were perfect for each other."

"…Oh." That was all Gaga could think of to say. And then he thought of something. Princess Grenda had said that he was on vacation until he turned back into a demon; did that mean that, since he couldn't turn back, he was on vacation permanently? In other words, had he lost his job, his life's work?

Grenda seemed to guess what he was thinking, for she said, "Gaga, since it seems you cannot turn back into a demon, you can no longer serve in the capacity of my steward. However…since it seems that you can change partway back; and you are still the most faithful servant of Hell's Royal Family, I can't let you retire yet. I'm going to delegate to you the job of finding and training a replacement. Also, once that replacement is found, you'll serve as an adviser. That ought to keep you busy." She spoke with arrogant authority, trying not to make it seem like she was doing him a favor.

"Th-thank you, Princess…" Gaga was overwhelmed by all of this. It all seemed to be too good to be true! Niko had given him permission to court Onua, and Princess Grenda had given him a job. _True, it's a different job, but it's actually even better for me now than my old one. It means I'll have more time to spend with Onua, yet I'll still keep my same level of standing. My standard may even have been raised a bit! I can still serve the Roal Family, and I needn't give up Onua-san either!_

"Here's the water, Papa." said Onua, handing Niko the large canteen, which she had marked with a ribbon, so as not to confuse it with the others. He looked up and took it from her, smiling.

"Thank you, Onua."

"What did you want it for, anyway?"

"Oh, that. It's a peace offering of sorts."

"A peace offering? Who for?" Gaga asked, interested.

"I thought about our conversation on the hill, and I decided that it was about time that the gypsy clans had an allied nation. This is for Queen Erlsel; I want to open negotiations with her."

"What a wonderful idea! I'm sorry for ever being angry with you!"

"Apology accepted! Not that you needed to apologize."

Gaga was becoming giddy with joy at the way things had turned out. _Happily Ever After may not be possible, but Happy Most Of The Time is plenty enough for me!_

The End…And the Beginning


	28. Epilogue

Epilogue

Well, I'm sure you want to know what exactly happened after that, don't you? Niko and Queen Erlsel came to an agreement, and the gypsy clans were allied with her country. Gaga and Onua were married about half a year later, and for the first time, Onua performed the wicked gypsy dance _Tanana_, the dance which is said to be able to melt a frozen stream in a midwinter blizzard when performed by a pretty young thing. Needless to say, their wedding night was a rousing success, and within two months, Onua was found to be pregnant. They settled down in the village by the Princess Academy, and Gaga found a possible replacement in a young dog-demon from the Cobalt Village in Hell. Niko's clan moved on, but twice a year they come back to host another festival. Those festivals have become famous throughout the five kingdoms for the incredible shows, and the wonderful food. Some of the favorite shows are Niko's weapons' exhibition, and the display of tapestries by Niobe and wood carvings by Joconan. The two biggest crowd pleasers, though, are the singing and dancing performances by Onua and the five former Platinum Princess Candidates. Here's one of the favorites, which is sung every year at the festival which is also the anniversary of Onua's marriage.

He holds her in his arms.

Would you?

Would you?

He tells her of her charms.

Would you?

Would you?

They met as you and I,

And they were only friends,

But before the story ends…

He'll kiss her with a sigh!

Would you?

Would you?

And if the girl were I?

Would you?

Would you?

And would you dare to say,

'Let's do the same as they!'?

I would!

Would you?

And would you dare to say,

'Let's do the same as they!'?

I would!

Would you!

Personally, I love this song, and it's almost become a tradition for young men to propose after this song is sung! And how am I doing? Just fine, thank you. I'm quite happy with my job at the church near town. Yuushi-chan still visits sometimes, and we laugh about the time a young man stumbled into the church, sopping wet and dressed like a thief. Speaking of which, I wonder if that young man will ever take her to the festival, to hear that song. Who knows? Maybe we'll have a new queen this year!


End file.
